The Part-Time Anti-Hero
by WATERMELON-S33DS
Summary: anti-heroes have more fun.
1. Chapter 1: Timing is Everything

**it's been forever since i last wrote fanfiction, hooboy. i've been focusing a lot on my artwork, and original stories (which are written in a script format to save time, so my story writing is extremely rusty)  
**

 **first time working with these characters as well, this is definitely different than what i'm used to writing. (kind of goofy, compared to the overly angsty stuff i usually do)**

 **all i can really give warnings for is minor violence, and some language.**

* * *

Penn gave his armour a tap, giving a content smirk to another satisfying form.

"Alright, another knight world. Sash, check the specs."

Sashi gave a nod, lifting the visor to her own helmet.

"The king has been turned to stone with the power of a magical amulet, we need to stop the sorcerer from reaching the top of the nearby mountain by midnight. If we don't, the entire kingdom will be turned to stone as well!" upon moving her hand away from her glasses, the visor fell back down again with the sound of metal hitting metal. She groaned, not wanting to deal with this the whole time, instead she removed the piece of armour and threw it to the side, the metal clattering across the floor giving an echo in the empty halls of the castle.

"How come you two get to be knights?" Boone waddled into the scene, flicking one of the stems of his hat out of his face. "I don't get what's so 'wise' about a clown. Do these pants make my butt look big?" He asked, giving his trousers a pat, not entirely enjoying the poofiness of them.

"You're a jester, not a clown." Sashi corrected. "And yes, they do make your butt look big."

Penn gave a chuckle before stepping between his friends.

"Come on, we can talk about Boone's butt later, first, we gotta get to that mountain!" In an attempt to be more heroic, he unsheathed his sword, pointing it upwards. "Onwards!" he called, breaking into a sprint.

"The mountain's that way." Sashi spoke, pointing to the West.

"Onwards!" Penn shouted again, changing direction and leading his friends to their mission.

* * *

"Perfect, Zero and his team of rugrats are all the way on the other side of the kingdom, they'll never get here in time. Meanwhile, I have the amulet, and reaching the mountain by midnight should be no problem!" Rippen turned away from the mirror mounted on the wall, weighing the artifact in his hand, giving it a couple of good tosses. "Larry! Have preparations been made?" He turned, his voice ringing out through the empty halls of his temporary lair.

"Almost done!" Larry gave a salute as a reply, placing one more dead flower into the crown he had made on the statue of a dragon's head. "Perfect! Isn't she just darling?"

Rippen pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

"Larry, please stop playing with our ride. We need to look threatening, not like we're delivering girl scout cookies..." The part-time villain could've sworn he'd had this conversation with his henchman thousands of times before. Not wanting to argue further, he waved Larry away from the statue.

The statue stirred to life with a wave of Rippen's staff. The room filled with green smoke, the beast letting out a vicious howl, drowning out the sound of the villain's laughter. It shook it's head, the dead flowers floating gently to the floor, only to be stepped on by the boots of the evil duo, giving audibly satisfying crunches underfoot.

The dragon gave a beat of its mighty wings, lifting off the tower floor effortlessly, another screech was all it took to cause one of the walls to crumble, opening a passageway for the beast to fly free, carrying its passengers to a seemingly simple victory.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Boone moaned, stopping to take a seat on a rock. he propped his foot up on his knee, giving his aching foot a thorough rub.

"Boone! We don't have time for this!" Sashi grumbled. "I've told you a thousand times, loose the flipflops!"

"And I've told YOU a thousand times, they are my **thing**!" Boone shouted back.

Penn sighed from where he hung from the rocks, his grip barely slipping. "GUYS! Come on, if we can make it to the mountain before Rippen does, we can win this no problem!" With a grunt he pulled his weight up to a ledge where he could catch his breath.

"Sashi started it." Boone crossed his arms, Sashi replied by scowling and rolling her eyes.

"Look!" She pointed at a shape drawing nearer to the mountain. The creature was huge, it's face filled with cracks and covered in moss, the beating of its wings almost seemed to make the mountain shake.

"It's like- some stone dragon!" Boone shouted.

"How much do you wanna bet Rippen's on that thing?" Penn's brows furrowed, he wasted no time in hopping up to hook his fingers over the next ledge, kicking at the rock wall to help pull himself up. A few pebbles came loose and rained down on his friends, neither of them made any verbal complaints, but they shielded their faces with their hands to avoid any injuries to their eyes.

* * *

"You know, Larry, I must say, the journey has been tough. Failing time and time again, but here we are. Moments from beating Penn Zero!" Rippen shouted to the heavens, standing only a few feet from where he needed to place the amulet to win. He let out an evil laugh, feeling pride swell in his chest, Larry clapped as the villain walked forward.

Raising the amulet, bringing it ever so closer to the pedestal...

 _ **THWANG**_

Rippen jumped back slightly.

"What? Where did it go!?" He looked around frantically, checking to make sure he hadn't dropped it.

"Found it!" Larry cheered, pulling on the necklace's chain to try and free it from where it stuck.

An arrow.

An arrow had soared through and managed to catch the amulet right out of Rippen's grasp, sticking it to a nearby tree.

Rippen grumbled, this wouldn't be much to stop him, just an inconvenience.

It must've been Penn Zero's meddling, but the redhead was no where to be seen. Rippen took the chain of the amulet, giving one last look over his shoulder and around the tree to make sure the teenager wasn't about to jump out of nowhere last minute to stop him.

He had to snap the arrow in half the slide the loop of the chain out of the trap.

"Now then, without any further interruptions-"

"Rippen!"

The villain sighed, turning with a glare to face his nemesis, who seemed to be trying really hard to hide the fact he was out of breath.

"You're too late, Penn Zero! I'm mere seconds away from winning, any last words?" Rippen taunted, holding the amulet directly above where it needed to be deposited before midnight. By simply opening his fingers, he'd finally win.

Penn opened his mouth, ready to make a smart comeback, but he didn't give the chance to.

The amulet was sent flying, and Rippen knocked back.

All that was seen was a flash of blue, coming into view and disappearing barely a second later.

"The amulet!" Sashi called from below, still climbing up to meet with the hero. Boone tried his best to grab the object, but it tumbled and rolled right past his hands.

"Don't touch that!" Rippen shouted, taking a dive after the amulet, Penn giving no hesitation and doing that same.

They tumbled, Penn at one point catching up with Rippen and managing to right himself, he tried to catch the man by the cape to slow him down, but was sent flying down the mountain in the lead with a kick from Rippen.

Sashi, Boone, and Larry did their best to catch up with the two, the heroes ocassionally trying to trip the henchman.

Rippen and Penn were already long gone once they had reached the bottom, the two of them off in some chase, continuing to knock the amulet out of each other's hands over, and over, and over again.

Rippen grabbed Penn's ankle, tripping the boy, just as he had done to him, the necklace was sent sliding across the ground, stopping just before a small cliff. Rippen tried to take the chance to run, but Penn was much quicker to stand, grabbing the amulet just before he was pushed. There were only a few seconds of flailing, Rippen giving a cocky smile and waving just as Penn was sent falling.

The cliff curved for a bit, Penn rolling down it, until he was then launched through a stained-glass window of the castle. he shielded his head, thankful for the armour protecting his body from the shards. He didn't even think about the stinging cuts on his face after he'd landed on the hard floor, all he saw was a glowing, red stone laying on the floor in front of him. The gold chain tangled up in itself.

"Yes!" He began a frantic army crawl towards the amulet. "Score one for-" Penn reached out, meaning to take hold of his prize.

If he'd been any further forward he would've lost a few fingers, as a sword with a baby blue blade swung down, slicing the amulet in two. The stone broke into three pieces, all Penn saw before he was zapped away was an ominous red cloud rise and disappear from the amulet, and the face of a mysterious, blue caped knight with messy brown hair looking down on him. Penn couldn't move under the gaze of gold surrounded by a ring of teal, he felt like an animal being hunted. Like he was face to face with an angry wolf.

* * *

"Wait, what happened?" Boone asked, surprised that they'd been brought back to the Odyssey with little-to-no warning.

"We still had 15 minutes until midnight! What gives?" Sashi grumbled, slightly annoyed.

"You won, now get out." Phyllis spoke down to them from her platform, wanting them out so she could relax sooner.

* * *

"So he just came out of nowhere and smashed it?" Boone questioned, mimicking the motion of the sword hitting the amulet with his own hands. "Does that... actually count as us winning?"

"I guess, I don't think he'd be able to get the amulet to the top of the mountain when it's broken into three pieces." Penn replied, shoving his hands into his pockets, the image of the brown-haired knight looking down on him burned into his memory.

"Who was that guy anyways?" Sashi pulled a snackbar out of her bag and began unwrapping it.

"I dunno, I mostly just want to know if he's on our side or not." Penn hoped that they wouldn't meet him again only to find he's joined sides with Rippen, just thinking about that sent shivers up his spine.

"By the sounds of it, I'd hate to find out that he's like, some dude who can travel between dimensions like us." Boone gasped as he finished the sentence. "What if he's out to get you!? What if he's some world-jumping-assassin, out to kill us!?" Boone grabbed Penn's shoulders and shook him, feeling panicked at the idea of being hunted.

"Come on, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. He... probably just thought I was a thief or something and wanted to stop me... or he thought I was the one who turned the king to stone." Penn lightly patted Boone's hands off his shoulders, trying to write off the situation as a one time thing.


	2. Chapter 2: My Business Isn't Yours

"I've almost got him!" Penn called down to his companions, the wind biting and stinging his eyes as he cut through the air like a knife.

He kept his eyes locked on the spot of beige running through the streets, they swerved and curved often, trying to loose Penn around corners.

Sashi and Boone were taking the lower route, trying their best to cut the thief off of routes, but they proved to be rather slippery. Boone had managed to corner them in an alley at one point, only to find out this criminal had a backup route- the rooftops.

Sashi was mostly doing her best to catch up with them, hoping she could either grab onto the shoulder bag that held the orb, or grasping at their target's tail.

This defintely wasn't the usual hero attire the group was used to.

Nothing but a beige hood and cape with black cat ears. Tight black pants tucked into beige boots, long, black, fingerless gloves covered their arms and hands. They had a matching beige cat tail as well, and they weren't wearing a shirt...

Penn noticed Sashi take a turn, running down an alleyway that looped around one of the buildings.

The redheaded hero swooped down, trying to direct the criminal towards where Sashi was waiting for them.

It worked, it wasn't necessarily a graceful turn, they slipped and stumbled before breaking off into a sprint in the other direction.

 _ **WHAM**_

Penn and Boone both winced at the sound of boot-to-face contact.

Sashi lowered her leg, content that her attack struck. She took careful steps forward, reaching down to grab the bag, but the thief was up and backing away in a second flat. She couldn't see their face, covered by a mask and goggles that matched the beige and black colour scheme of the rest of their outfit. The only thing stopping their whole outfit from matching was a splash of red, likely from the nose that Sashi had just likely broken.

The three super heroes surrounded their target. Penn and Boone both floating down closer to the ground to be on level with their opponent.

"Alright, end of the line, fiend!" Penn spoke, pointing to the thief. The only reply he got was the mask being pulled down, the stranger then spat on the cement before putting their mask back over their mouth and nose, then getting into a fighting stance. Fists up and knees bent.

Sashi let out a war-cry, lunging forward to land a punch to the back of her opponent's head. They ducked and slid to the side, so she flew straight past. Recovering quickly, she spun around with a kick, which was blocked by the other. The two of them seemed to be pretty evenly matched, both landing the occassional hit and blocking the rest.

Sashi caught both of their hands and managed to hold them in place long enough for Penn to reach into their bag to retrieve the orb that the team had been sent to protect from someone who wanted to abuse it's power.

"Boone! Go long!" He called just as their opponent freed themselves, he threw it into a nearby area, looking to be a park, as it left his hands the thief tackled him.

"I got it!" Boone shouted, hovering around quite frantically to try and line himself up with where the ball was to land. The orb landed, unharmed, in a tree. Sashi wasted no time in running over to assist the wiseman, leaving Penn to fight the thief.

He only managed to hold them for a second, before they wriggled free and elbowed Penn in the chin, the hero barely winced, but was still caught slightly off guard. A punch flew past his head, grazing his ear.

The redhead took the chance to attack, throwing his head back, then bringing it forward, meeting forhead-to-forhead with the thief.

Or, he thought he'd hit their forhead, but the sound of glass breaking said otherwise. The stranger stumbled back, cupping their face. Almost in a panic they hooked two fingers into the strap of their, now shattered, goggles, ripping the eyewear off and throwing it to the ground.

Penn caught sight of their eyes as they finished wiping away blood from cuts.

Gold and teal.

This was the knight that had destroyed the amulet.

Almost like he knew Penn recognized him, he pulled the mask down, revealing a grin filled with sharp teeth.

"What are you doing here!?" Penn shouted, feeling like Boone was right about this person hunting the trio.

"Just business." He shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." Penn tried to lunge forward to grab him, but he jumped out of the way and dove into the nearby park where Sashi had just retrieved the orb from the tree.

She yelped, as she didn't hear him approaching her. He took ahold of her skunk-tail ponytail and gave it a rough tug, hoping she'd stumble and create an opening for him to grab the orb, but Boone jumped in and grabbed the sparkling ball before he could even get his hands on it.

Sashi made quick work of distracting the cat-eared boy with a punch to the cheek. He spat again, but recovered quickly.

"Cover your noses!" Sashi shouted to her team, not waiting for anyone to recover from a second of confusion before putting her skunk powers to use, creating a massive cloud of toxic-smelling air.

Boone and Penn fell to the ground, groaning and doing their best to keep the smell out of their nostrils.

"Oh god! It's in my mouth- I can taste it!" Penn whined, trying to fan the rancid air away from his face.

"Oh, that took care of them. Thanks~" The thief chimed, walking over and picking the orb off the ground where Boone had dropped it.

"Wh-what? How are y-" Before Sashi could finish, she saw through the cloud of gas, seeing the thief had pulled his mask up to cover his face, his nose included.

"Now, if you'll excuse me~" He stuffed the ball back into his bag and ran off before Sashi could grasp him.

* * *

"Shouldn't we be working on the mission?" Larry asked, looking up from where he was reading inside the belly of Rippen's mecha-suit.

"No need to." Rippen replied, feeling rather relaxed. "You saw that thief stealing the orb from the musuem, all we have to do is wait for Penn Zero and the other two to tire him out, then we can simply take the orb without any fuss~" As he finished his sentence, he noticed a puff of green coming from a nearby park. "And by the looks of things, that may be soon."

* * *

"You're never gonna get away with this!" Penn coughed, shaking his head to clear it of the stench as he stood up, taking on as heroic of a stance as he could.

"Uh, I kind of already have..." The stranger gestured to the bag which held the orb. "But, you lot have proved to be a fun fight, so congrats on that." He began walking away, it was obviously he was doing so with a shit-eating grin on his lips under the mask.

"Oh, not so fast." A voice interupting the emotionless goodbye. "Listen, I hate to barge in uninvited, but if you'll hand over that orb that would be splendid." Rippen held out a large hand to the thief.

"So you two ARE in cahoots!" Boone recovered from the stench cloud, pointing an accusatory finger towards the thief.

"I work alone." The stranger began walking again, completely ignoring Rippen's request.

"I'm trying to make this easier for you, hand over the orb before I **take** it."

"No! Come on, give the orb to us!" Penn spoke up, earning a glare from the part-time villain.

"Why would he give _you_ the orb when he's the one who stole it, you're the last one who'll get your hands on it." Rippen turned to his rival, the two distracting each other rather than focusing on what the stranger was doing.

"Hey! I have an idea!' The thief spoke up, reaching into his bag and pulling out the ball. "Instead of me choosing who to give it to, you both can pick the pieces of it off the pavement and share it!"

"wh-no!" Both Rippen and Penn tried to dive forward to save the orb, but, it was too late. The blue glass shattered and scattered across the asphault like a water balloon popping. Penn looked up from the mess to see another red cloud- just like from the amulet- rise and disapear.

"Now then, my work here is done." As the thief took a bow, the villains an heroes were zapped back to their respective work stations.


	3. Chapter 3: Your Business Isn't Mine

"Alright, theories. Go." Penn spoke before even sliding into his seat next to Sashi in the cafeteria. Over the course of a few weeks, they'd learned that they weren't going to run into the stranger all the time, he seemed to only show up on random missions.

Always doing the same thing: breaking stuff.

So far on the list of what the dude had been targeting, they'd written: a couple of vases, more amulets and orbs, there was a statue and a bust or two.

All of them did the weird 'smoke cloud' thing as well. It was obvious there was a connection between all the objects.

At this point they were ready to write off the stranger's appearances as nothing but coincidences, but Penn couldn't shake the fact that a lot of the things the stranger broke related to their missions...

Boone had attempted to convince the other two to let the guy do his thing, as the stranger never seemed to actually stop them from completing their missions.

"I mean, it's not like we have to _protect_ any of the stuff he's breaking, we're always trying to just keep it away from Rippen. And phyllis said it herself! We're still winning. So why not use this guy to our advantage?" He shoved a cracker with cheese into his mouth. "Just let him do his thing, ya know?"

"I still don't trust him." Sashi crossed her arms. "He's too shady. Sure, we know he's not working with Rippen. But you never know, in the future we may get a mission to protect something that this guy is out to destroy. What do we do then?"

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him when we see him. We're gonna have to find a way to beat him as well. Because so far we're fighting a loosing battle against this guy." Penn brought his fist down onto the table, then opted to leaning his chin into his palm.

* * *

Sashi rolled her eyes, ignoring her companions and their 'Dinosaur Cowboy World' dance.

"Hey! We need to focus, our mission is to protect Sheriff Scaly Briggs from... an assassin..." She let out a small gasp.

"I guess these people finally got fed up with the old man." Boone commented, remembering all the news they'd heard of the man being a failure. Penn felt like he should argue against the statement, but he couldn't help but agree a little bit.

"We should hurry, it doesn't matter _why_ he's being hunted, we just gotta make sure he doesn't end up stabbed or something." The redhead spoke, trying to refocus the two on the mission. "First things first, where is the old man?" He rubbed at his chin, looking around the empty town thoughtfully.

"Cool! A party!" Boone's voice interupted the hero's thoughts. The wiseman was standing near what must've been a library, or some other mildy important building. His eyes were locked on a dirty piece of paper. An advertisement.

The paper told of a party in a nearby bar, a hoedown of sorts. There would be drinks, music, and women.

"Sounds like a place the ol' sheriff would hang-out." Penn ripped the page off of the wall, hoping to find an address or something.

"I think that's our place." Sashi pointed towards the obvious location. The doors to the saloon were wide open, and it wasn't too difficult to hear the sound of music, chatter, and foot stomping.

"Come on, we better hurry." The trio entered the building as subtly as they could, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.

Penn wasn't really surprised that he was on his own in a matter of minutes. Boone had been mistaken for somebody with actual medical expertise and was called off to deal with somebody with possible alcohol poisoning, and Sashi was dragged away by another group of women insisting she join them in a dance. She wasn't really given the chance to answer before she was gone.

"Guys! Sashi? Boone?" He felt a little nervous without his sidekick and wiseman. He knew with all the sound within the bar, they'd never hear him, and he'd never hear them, but a boy could dream. The piano music finished, before picking up a much quicker rythm, people were stomping their feet and moving all about. Poor Penn was tossed left and right, taking elbow after eblow to his sides and face.

It was a struggle, but he managed to push past the crowd, barely squeezing out between two tall women. He tripped and stumbled, catching himself with his hands on a table.

"Uh..." Penn's eyes were screwed shut, bracing himself for impact, but cyan orbs snapped open and focused, the redhead realizing he'd stumbled into some poor party-goer, and he now had them pinned, with an arm on each side, to one of the saloon's many tables.

"Oh! Sorry!" Penn apologized, about to stand up, but pausing.

He realized he recognized something about this cowboy.

Under the black hat, jacket, and blue bandana, he'd seen this person before.

"You!" He shouted, still not releasing the stranger.

"Me?"

"Y-yes! You!" He finally stood up, the stranger taking well placed steps around the hero to switch their positions, both still facing each other.

"What about me?" Penn could tell that the stranger knew exactly what he was talking about. He took on a mischevious smile, pointed teeth showing and creeping Penn out a little.

"You keep showing up everywhere and getting in my way!" Penn jabbed a finger into the brunette's chest. "Who are you, anyways?" Penn crossed his arms after his hand was batted away.

"Listen, as much as I'd like to stay and chat and get all 'buddy-buddy' with you..." The brunette pulled a pocket watch out from his jacket, giving it a quick look before flipping it closed. "I have to go, I have a very important appointment, and I can't be late for this deal." He tried to walk away, but was stopped with a hand wrapping around his wrist.

"Not a chance, buckaroo." Penn tried to give a hard glare, but was met with nothing more than an eye-roll and more tugging from the stranger.

"Let go!" He gave a tough yank, which wasn't enough to shake Penn off, but it was indeed enough to knock the hero of balance, they fell into each other and were knocked into the hoard of ladies and gentlemen having themselves a good time. The stranger tried to use this as a chance to slip away, but the escape was rather slow due to the crowd constantly bumping him back and forth, an opening barely ever being made.

Penn was able to keep a close eye on him, but he could almost never catch up.

"Penn!" Sashi called through the crowd, she was sitting on a bar stool and waving to the hero.

"I-I gotta go!" He pointed towards the stranger, hoping that Sashi could hear him over the sound of the party, the only thing he could see of him was the large blue bow on the back of his hat.

He'd really hoped that the crowd was the worst of his problems, but after stumbling out of the saloon, he looked up only to be greeted by a slingshot being aimed at him by...

"Rippen!" Penn bared his teeth.

"You know, You look good like this. On your knees and at the mercy of my weapon." Rippen laughed, keeping his aim on the redhead. "I see you've met my associate." The part-time villain looked over his shoulder to the brunette stranger, who was leaning against the railing of a building just across from the saloon. "It seems me and him have common goals, so I sent Larry off to do... whatever he does, and hired him as my new, temporary, number 2." Rippen grinned wickedly. The brunette just rolled his eyes at his new boss's ranting.

"Now then! Take care of Mr. Zero." Rippen lowered his weapon, Penn tried to stand up to fight back, but his arms were restrained behind his back by a set of strong hands.

"H-hey! Let me go!" He shouted back at the brunette, who silently led the hero away from the maniacally laughing Rippen.


	4. Chapter 4: Introductions

"You're never gonna get away with this!" Penn continued to argue and shout until he could feel his voice growing hoarse. He wasn't sure if he was trying to seem more heroic, or if he just wanted to make noise- hoping Boone and Sashi would find him. Neither of which seemed to be the result of his shouting. "I refuse to loose to someone in a big poofy bow!" Penn screamed, feeling bitter that he kept loosing to someone who couldn't seem to take proper care of their accessories- referencing to how most of the forms this guy took seemed to involve a shredded cape or scarf.

The stranger continued to seem unphased, leaning against one of the walls of the makeshift prison, his hat tilted slightly to cover his eyes. "Are you even awake?" Penn mumbled.

"Yes. I am awake... barely..." The stranger yawned and rubbed at his eyes, the bags under them as heavy and noticable as ever. It was ovious the brunette was bored of waiting for... something.

He had paced back and forth through the room at least 10 times, he must've polished his clean, white boots at least 4 times.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" The stranger lifted the rim of his hat so he could make clear eye contact with Penn for the first time since he'd captured him.

"Helping Rippen. Do you even know what it is he's doing? What's going to happen if I don't stop him?" Penn managed to bring himself up to his knees, struggling to move due to the fact he'd been tied up rather thoroughly.

"I don't do details. All I know is that the both of us need the sheriff out of the way for awhile." The temporary henchman turned his back on Penn.

"Out of the way? Rippen doesn't want Sheriff Scaly Briggs out of the way, he wants him dead!" The small building was silent enough for Penn to hear the strangers breath hitch.

"He didn't... tell me about this..." The brunette turned around slowly. "He just told me he intended to get the sheriff out of the way!"

"Yeah, and if he gets what he wants, the sheriff is gonna _stay_ out of the way, for a really, _really_ long time! There's an assassin out to get Briggs, and my guess is that Rippen's the one who hired them!" Penn's voice slowly grew louder and louder, his desperation showing through.

"Dammit..." The brunette spat under his breath, slamming his fist down on the top of a nearby barrel.

"Listen, if you untie me now, we can still probably get out there to catch him!" Penn shuffled closer to the stranger. The brunette sighed, slumping into a nearby chair and rubbing his face with a gloved hand.

"Geeze... " His hand slid down his face. "... You think I'm a bad guy, don't you?"

The question caught Penn slightly off guard.

"Uh... " was all the reaction Penn could manage.

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt." He crossed his legs and leaned back with crossed arms. "I just needed the sheriff distracted for a bit so I could do **my** job. That bastard said he'd call me when he had the old man distracted." He pounded his fist on the barrel again. "I can't believe I didn't catch on that he meant murder! Stupid!" The brunette cursed at himself, slamming his fist down on the barrel over and over again as a means to harm himself.

"Whoa, whoa, hey. No need to break your hand over this- like I said, we can still fix this!" Penn offered again. The brunette looked up, thought for a second, then gave a solid nod.

He spent no time wasted in untying Penn, opting to use a knife to cut the ropes over taking time to undo the knot. The brunette pulled the hero to his feet and led him out the door of the hideout. It was a small little building rather far outside of town.

Penn took a moment to look around, trying to find any kind of ride available.

There was an allosaur standing nearby, taking it's fill from a tub of water.

"Come on!" It was Penn's turn to take the lead, grabbing the stranger by the wrist and dragging him over to the resting dino.

After visiting this world several times over, Penn had gotten pretty good at mounting the beasts, so he was seated on its head in seconds flat, the brunette was another story.

"You... uh, need any help?" Penn called down, watching the brunette struggle to climb onto the dino's tail.

"No! I don't! I just- I've only done this like twice now!" He shouted up, giving himself a final hoist and seating himself on the beast's tail. "Okay! I'm good!" Penn couldn't help but laugh as the stranger straightened his hat. He'd spent so much time thinking the brunette was so tough and stoic, but he just turned out to be some regular dork who wore a lot of black.

Penn whipped the reigns, the dino moving into motion rather suddenly, the stranger yelped and barely managed to catch himself from falling from his seat, Penn tried his best to hide his laughter as the two (three) made their way back into town to try and find Sheriff Scaly Briggs before it was too late.

* * *

Penn and the stranger came up to the scene about part way through, Sashi and Boone were poised to attack. Sashi wielding and prepared to throw her fan, Boone taking to wielding his bag of leeches. He had the bag held above his head, sort of halfway between ready to throw it and ready to dump its contents out over their opponent.

Another mysterious cowboy, this one dressed in all black with his face covered by a bandana. He didn't look too different from the bandits seen in cheesy cowboy movies.

Penn lept off his steed, scanning the area for Rippen, who he spotted in the background, standing near an unconscious Scaly Briggs, and his daughter Amber who struggled to get out of her bonds. Both were tied to the post where Rippen leaned, far enough away from the fight that he wouldn't be involved in it, but he could still watch.

"Nice of you to join us." Sashi muttered as Penn slid into position beside her. His fists up and ready to throw punches.

"Sorry, got a little held up." Blue eyes quickly looked over to the stranger, who was carefully sliding off the allosaur's tail, proving once again that he had no experience in this.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Rippen spat, startled by seeing his temporary henchman had turned on him. "You were supposed to be keeping him _away_. Don't you want the sheriff out of the way so you can do your little robbery?"

"You never told me you were gonna kill him. You don't tell me the whole story, you don't get my service!" The brunette shouted, straightening his hat and fixing his gloves. Acting as if he hadn't just fallen on his ass off a dinosaur.

"Are we gonna get this fight going, or not?" The assassin asked, tired of seeing his enemies bicker with each other.

"Bring-"

"You guys take care of muttonchops over there, I got this guy." The stranger cut Sashi off, standing in front of the trio.

"B-"

"Just go."

Penn nodded, leading his friends to deal with their enemy, who didn't hesitate to start running, leaving the sheriff and Amber where they were tied.

"You okay?" Penn asked, making quick work of removing Amber's gag.

"I'm fine. But Pa's pretty shaken up..." She stood and patted her clothing flat when the ropes were removed, Sashi and Boone helped Sheriff Scaly Briggs to his feet, his head spun and he struggled to stand.

"What the heck is goin' on...?" He asked, his eyesight spinning.

"Well-" Penn tried to start, but was cut off by the sound of wood splitting.

* * *

The stranger let no focus fall to the trio as they moved their attention from the assassin to the part-time villain.

"Really? What's a kid in a big, blue bow gonna do? Ya gonna do a lil' fairy dance? Gonna wrap me up like a present?" The bandit's laughter rang loud with mockery, the brunette simply hardened his glare.

"You don't shut up I'll strangle you with it..." He muttered under his breath, only loud enough for himself to hear as he reached into his jacket, grasping onto what he hoped was what he was looking for, and not a loose box of matches or something.

He tossed up the knife that he pulled out in his hand, catching it by the blade. Weighing it.

"Oh, pretty boy's got some weaponry, eh? Go on, take your best shot." The bandit tucked his weapons away, giving a cocky grin.

The stranger looked to the side, Watching Penn help up the redheaded girl. He brought his hand up to his shoulder, and in one quick, swift motion, he sent the knife flying.

The bandit froze, feeling a breeze on his head, a breeze his hat should've blocked.

As the bandit turned to see his hat nailed to the outside of the building behind him with the knife stuck in it, the brunette tackled his target into the railings of the porch.

The wood split, cracking loudly underneath the weight of the two males.

The bandit fought back, knocking the brunette back with a swift punch. There was a crack and a line of blood flowing down his face after the impact. The brunette didn't even bother wiping the crimson away, instead, with a firm grip on the assassin's collar, he lifted him out of the broken railings.

The bandit tried to overpower the brunette, but was barely able to find his footing before the two of them were spinning- dancing, almost- and disappeared into the building's open door.

A couple of women and men shouted, running out into the safety of the open town.

Penn tried to run in to help the stranger, but was nearly knocked out by the bandit-in-black being thrown into a heap on the ground.

He wasn't very scratched up, he only had a knife cut or two and what looked to be a broken nose. He looked terrified.

"Boo."

Penn turned to look into the doorway of the building, within those few seconds the brown haired stranger had taken many hits, and has his clothing torn. His stare was as hard and chilling as when Penn first looked into those eyes.

The bandit whimpered and scurried away, dino-napping the allosaur that Penn and him had ridden earlier.

"Whoa..." Boone breathed, joining Penn and still supporting the sheriff on his shoulder.

The stranger then let out a long breath and stumbled down the stairs, Penn quickly caught him.

"Easy there, you okay?"

"I'm fine." The stranger pushed away from Penn, then removed a glove and touched his left eye. He winced, barely able to open his eye, which was blood-shot and likely to bruise.

"I'll admit, that was pretty neat." Sashi commented, Amber nodding along to the comment.

"Meh." The stranger did nothing but shrug.

"Well... the assassins gone..." Boone started. "I guess we're done here." He passed Briggs off to Amber, who led her father away as carefully as she could, making sure not to jostle him too much.

"I guess so." Penn nodded to his friends. "So... uh. Thanks." Penn put his hand out to the stranger.

He hesitated,

but he took it.

"No problem. In fact, it probably helped out my case. Not only is everyone alive, but the sheriff and his deputy are occupied so I can go do my job." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

"Job?"

"Robbery."

Sashi slapped a palm to her forhead.

"Hey, before we go. I wanted to ask. Who are you?" Penn didn't release the stranger's hand as he tried to walk away, not wanting to let the brunette escape until he could get a name to put with the face.


	5. Chapter 5: Probably a Problem

"Well, we know he's not a villain." Sashi started, poking at her sandwich with the plastic knife she'd stolen from Penn's lunch that he'd chosen not to eat.

"But his morals are a little..." Penn gave a wobbley hand gesture. "Ehhh..." He looked down to the sheet of paper where they'd been writing theories about the stranger. The mystery around him only growing more frustrating since they'd been zapped back to the Odyssey before the brunette could give his name. "I mean, I don't know how many heroes go around robbing places or beating the crap out of people-"

"Or letting figures of authority and law enforcement get kidnapped so they can do said crimes." Sashi added in, stealing a grape from Boone's lunch and popping it into her mouth.

"Oh! Oh! I got it!" Boone slammed his hands down on the table, Penn's juice box hopping off the table slightly with the force of impact. "He's an _anti-hero_!"

"Anti... hero?" Penn cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that just a villain?"

"No. An anti-hero is a good guy whose morals and courage aren't to 'hero standards'." As he spoke, he pulled a comic book out of his bag, passing it to Penn and Sashi, who looked at the cover. Penn opened the book, flipping to a random page.

"Doesn't look very heroic to me." Sashi commented on the picture, filled with gore with the main character standing in the center of the destruction. She took the book from Penn, proceeding to flip through it from the beginning.

"That's just an anti-hero thing. Sometimes they work _with_ heroes, other times against them." Boone added, shoving a handful of grapes into his mouth.

"Well, let's just hope he stays on our side." Penn added in.

"Judging by that misunderstanding with Rippen, I'm willing to bet we won't find them working together again." Sashi looked up from her new reading material to comment.

"Doesn't mean he won't join other villains." Boone shrugged. Penn rested his chin in his hands, silently hoping that day wouldn't come.

* * *

The second Penn's feet hit the platform, he let his body fall limp, giving no reaction to the stinging in his nose when it made contact with the floor of the theatre.

"UUUGGGH..." Boone whined, preferring to let his body fall into a seat, rather than the floor like the team's leader chose.

Sashi gave her face a hard slap to wake herself up, keeping a hard glare to stop her eyelids from drooping. This didn't stop her from yawning and stretching, though.

"What time is it?" Penn asked, rolling onto his back and pointing his gaze to the platform.

"10 pm." Phyllis gave the short answer, earning a groan from the trio.

The only positive part was that their mission had taken just as long as it felt. It wasn't overly interesting, most of it was just annoying and hard to deal with.

It had been nearly two weeks, and they hadn't heard anything from the brunette. Well, almost. There was a brief meeting...

They had to revisit that wonderful musical world again- only this time they took on a dragon with a curse, rather than an evil witch. Rippen seemed pretty happy, favouring his lizard form over the (now destroyed) sorceress.

Penn ended up admitting he'd missed being a princess, missing his beautiful hair and adorable dress- Boone and Sashi confessing similar things about being a knight and a fairy.

The mission was going smoothly aside from one wrong step.

Princess Penn had wrongly assumed the cliffs where their final battle was taking place were sturdy. He'd meant to back up to avoid injury, but just ended up falling and rolling, Sashi and Boone missing their chances to catch him.

All Penn remembered was screwing his eyes shut as he fell, expecting impact with rock.

He did get an impact, but not a very solid one. It had made his neck a little sore, but he lived.

He only opened his eyes because of the jostling and bumping, and the sound of hooves.

He settled just in time to look up to see the brunette stranger had caught him, and was struggling a bit. Using one hand to control the horse, and the other to keep Penn stable in his lap.

He tried to ask about the stranger, (in that weird melodious way that the world forces one to speak) but he dropped Penn off and made his exit as quickly and silently as he had appeared, leaving Penn a good 20 feet below where he needed to be.

Once again, he only remembered the strangers eyes. Instead of seeming tough and brave, they looked...

Empty.

* * *

"Penn, hello? You in there?" Sashi snapped her fingers and waved her hand in front of Penn's face, trying to break him out of his dream. "Earth to Penn!"

"Wh... what happened?" The hero sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. "Did I pass out?"

"No, but your eyes were glazed over. You looked brain-dead." Boone commented, holding and offering Penn's backpack to him. "I thought you were about to turn into a zombie or something." The wiseman laughed, elbowing Penn in the side once the trio began making their exit, then continued to ramble on about more zombie-related stories, often bringing up the possibility of them turning into zombies themselves.

"Do you think that'd be possible? A world where zombies are the good guys?" Boone continued rambling, holding the door to the theatre open for his friends. Penn began patting at his hip, intending to check his MUHU for any missed messages, only to find the device missing.

"Ah! Crud! I must've lost it when I passed out." He looked around the ground, making sure it wasn't laying on the cement. He ducked back into the open door, wishing Sashi and Boone a goodnight.

"Phyllis! Keep the bear on the leash! I'm not here to eavesdrop-just lookin' for my MUHU!" He warned the woman as he entered, really hoping to avoid any situations similar to the cuteling incident. Phyllis heard him from her balcony, grunting just loud enough of a greeting for Penn to hear her. He took up a semi-jog to reach the front of the theatre, dropping to all fours to check under the seats for any sign of a blue light.

"Behind you." Phyllis called before dropping down from her perch. Penn looked over his shoulder, seeing the MUHU laying right next to his spot on the warp pad. He grabbed it, quickly hooking it to his belt and feeling his anxiety plummet into content-ness.

Phyllis quickly waved him out, even giving him a hard push to the back to hurry him out quicker.

He started his way home, only making it to the edge of the building before he felt chills run up his spine. The evening sounds suddenly died out completely- no birds or crickets. He couldn't hear the traffic in the distance. The lights above him weren't buzzing.

There was nothing.

A bright blue light broke Penn from his thoughts, he jumped, almost falling back into a pile of boxes Phyllis had left sitting in front of the Odyssey, meaning to send them to the recycling depot.

He recovered from the stumble, choosing to hide behind the boxes as he observed the scene.

The silence only lasted another half a second before the flash came back, so bright that Penn had to cover his eyes to avoid temporary blindness.

Something slid across the pavement.

The road was left with two short skid marks, smoking slightly.

It was a person.

Penn had just watched a person slide out of a blue light 'Risky Business' style. The wind blew, rustling the blue scarf the person wore around their neck, their long grey jacket doing the same.

Penn risked stepping out slightly more to get a clearer view. Watching with caution as the person seemed to look around... almost confused. They straightened up and pulled out a strange device, poking at the sparking pile of buttons.

It gave one last spark, before going dark. The person continued to shake the device, taking a second to look around them. Paranoid glances over the shoulder.

Penn saw their face.

This was the stranger.

He knew the bouncy, messy brown hair, the tired eyes.

He ducked back behind the boxes, a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of his breathing, hoping the (now titled) anti-hero wouldn't be able to sense his presence.

There were footsteps, another half a second of silence, then the night seemed to come back to life.

Crickets sang, cars drove by in the distance, the streetlamps buzzed with life.

The redhead risked a look around his cardboard shield.

But, the stranger was gone.


	6. Chapter 6: Sugar and Sleeping Problems

"You sure you're not just hallucinating?" Sashi questioned, dumping paint smothered palettes into one of the many sinks in the art room.

"I swear I saw it! He just- appeared out of thin air with this weird... thingy..." Penn didn't pay much attention to the paint he'd accidentally splattered all over his painting- which wasn't really a picture of anything. Just a mess of colours, so there wasn't much to worry about in terms of ruining anything.

"I dunno man, we got out pretty late last night. Sometimes when I'm tired enough I get a little wonky." To add emphasis to the final word Boone twirled one of his fingers in circles next to his head. "One time I dreamt that this cold piece of pizza was talking to me."

"This isn't anything like that, Boone. You know, If you don't believe me when we go to work I'll show you the skid marks!" Penn pointed his brush at Boone, flicking paint onto the floor in front of his friend.

"Definitely hallucinating..." Sashi muttered under her breath, wringing out a cloth and wiping her hands with it. Penn rolled his eyes, returning to his work, paying no attention to who entered the room.

"... Sir?"

A voice broke Rippen from his thoughts, the part-time villain looking up for barely a moment, nothing more than acknowledging their existence before returning to his magazine.

"What is it? I'm busy." He grumbled to the disturbance.

"I just... wanted to drop this off." The stranger spoke softly, not wanting to interrupt the class anymore than they probably already did.

Rippen only removed his gaze from his reading material when he heard the footsteps disappear out the door, risking a glance to where the stranger had gone, seeing only the end of a blue scarf flowing out of sight.

"Peculiar..." He mumbled, removing his feet from his desk and straightening his posture.

There was a bag with a note, a list of emergency contacts that could be used in the event of medical emergencies. He folded up the note and tossed it into one of his drawers, likely never to be looked at again.

With a curious hum he picked up the brown paper bag, finding a couple of donuts nestled in the paper. There was a variety, likely not for quantity, but because the gift giver didn't know what he'd like.

Rippen couldn't fight off a slight smile, picking out one of the treats, reclining, and enjoying his snack. Although, he was curious who had left the gift.

He pulled his drawer open again, sorting through to find the note. He unfolded the paper, looking through the various scribbles to find what must've been the gift giver's name.

"Hm... I see..." He mumbled, shoving the last of the donut into his mouth. He vaguely recognized the name.

Must've been from Larry. He hadn't really been listening, but he sort of remembered the principal telling him something about a new student. He didn't care much, mostly taking it as a note to not be surprised when some mysterious kid showed up in his classroom.

Reading the name over again, he knew he'd heard it somewhere. If it was important he would've remembered immediately, so it must've been from Larry.


	7. Chapter 7: The Shorter the Scarier

When you barely know someone exists, it's easy to not notice you're being followed.

A trio where two of three members think your existence is a bad dream, they don't notice the extra shadow. They distract the believer with words of other stories and tales.

* * *

Sashi continued going on about an idea she'd had for a monster movie, eventually turning into a heated discussion with Boone. Would an organic monster win, or would a robot win? Penn tried to settle the fight by saying a cyborg was the obvious winner, but he just got caught up in the debate.

The redhead did look over his shoulder briefly, but his eyes caught no movement, so he brushed off the feeling, like he was being watched by a ghost.

The stranger stood next to the school, simply passing by on a walk to familiarize himself with the town's layout, timing himself to figure out his schedule.

But he knew the redhair, and he knew the redhead's friends.

They all looked very different than what he was used to, but that was inevitable. Still, he expected something more similar to the heroics he'd gotten used to, only to be greeted by normal teenagers.

Thinking about it more, the brunette realized something.

These three teleported between dimensions.

That meant they had a portal somewhere.

A portal, usually meant there was someone to maintain it.

He thumbed the broken device in his pocket, making the quick decision to follow the trio before he lost sight of them to the crowd and turns of the city. There really wasn't a downside to this plan.

If it worked, he'd fix his toy with no fuss.

If he got caught? Well tough-luck, he'd probably just be stuck on a team rather than on his own. Either way he'd likely get his transporter fixed sooner or later.

He kept his steps light, staying close to the sides of buildings to blend into the shadows, or to at least pretend he was just some random kid leaning against the wall in the event that one of his targets turned around.

* * *

"Ready for another butt kicking, ol' Rippy?" Penn gave a mocking salute to his rival, grinning mischeviously to the part-time villain, who simply rolled his eyes and grunted, pushing open the door to Fishstick on a Stick. Larry gave them a heartful greeting, even distracting Boone for a moment with a happy conversation.

The brunette hid behind a trashcan momentarily, waiting for the two groups to go through their greetings, when silence fell he made his move. Ducking into the Odyssey behind the trio, half expecting alarms to go off.

He may have over-done the whole 'ninja' act, with rolling and sneaking around close to walls. But it must've worked, because if there were any alarms, none were going off. He gave one last, low effort cartwheel to end up in front of the doors to the theatre, only opening the door enough or him to slip in.

"Goodluck, try not to die." Phyllis sent the heroes away in a flash of light. The stranger blinked, looking over the machine.

It was defintely a pretty piece of machinery, a little big and bulky, but it was pretty likely most dimensions weren't fully equipped with handheld teleporters.

He heard the woman up top shuffling around for a moment, the sound stopped. A muffled creaking sound, then a TV was turned on. The brunette listened for a moment, hearing a couple of lines that signaled she was just watching bad sitcoms, her laughter showing that she quite enjoyed the programs.

The brunette took one last deep breath, before ascending to the platform with the ladder. He carefully took a step, clearing his throat to alert his presence.

The woman immediately reacted, whipping a baseball bat out from seemingly nowhere.

She took a few steps forward, causing the stranger to step back.

"I-I don't want any trouble! I just want to ask-" Before he could finish his defense, he felt one of his feet fall, he'd stepped off the balcony and had no way of getting his balance back.

Phyllis watched him fall, ignoring the scream as his descent began.

"Are you dead? Please make sure it was neat, I do not want to clean." She called down, resting the bat on her shoulder and looking over the railing.

He looked pretty alive.

A little crumpled up, folded with his legs over his head.

But the groaning and the way he flopped over onto his back suggested he lived and didn't break his spine or neck.

"Ow... ow..." He sat up, wincing at how he hurt everywhere, he rubbed his neck and shook his head. "I mean no harm, madame. Just wanted a favour." He didn't look up, not wanting to strain his hurt muscles.

Phyllis slid down the ladder with ease, startling the brunette. He scrambled for a moment, but managed to line his limbs up correctly to half scoot, half crab-walk backwards, away from the armed and approaching slavic woman.

All the communication that the two shared was terrified stares from the party on the floor, who yelped when his back finally made contact with the wall giving him no where to run.

"What do you want?" Phyllis finally asked, bouncing the bat in her hand.

"I-I just... I have this thing..." The brunette stammered, deciding that speaking through the fear was a poor decision, instead choosing to just hold out his device. Phyllis snatched it up, looking it over and muttering to herself.

"I have never seem something like this..." She spoke over her shoulder as she walked away from the stranger. He stood up, dusting off his jacket, and straightening out his, now dusty, black t-shirt.

"It kind of goes without saying. I'm not from around here. I was _supposed_ to go somewhere else, but my little toy here broke, and dropped me off here. I guess I'm lucky... I could've been dropped into never-ending nothingness and despair." He shrugged, as if the alternate option was nothing but mildly inconvenient. "I uh... noticed you have your own machine here. She's a sexy gal..." He rubbed his chin, admiring the portal's opening. His gaze lingered, finding its way to a trio he knew well. They looked like strange monsters, but each still carried traits he knew well.

"I'll fix it." Phyllis interrupted his staring. "But not for free." She lifted the bat, letting it fall to rest on her shoulder, sort of as a reminder that she was armed and would not tolerate cheapskates.

"Well... we have a problem." He reached into his pockets, fumbling around for a moment. "I'm broke."

"Broke?" Phyllis quirked an eyebrow.

"Yep. I only had enough for food and I just spent it, and that was just what I found on the sidewalk outside the little shelter I made for myself." He scratched at the back of his neck, not making eye contact with the shorter woman. Now that Phyllis actually looked at him, she noticed he did look pretty sickly. Weirdly pale, dark bags under his eyes that would likely never go away.

"I have... alternative idea." She tossed the stranger's device up and down in her hand. "I've seen you before, yes?" She marched around the brunette, eyeing him up and down. He was pretty scrawny, but looked to be built rather broadly around his shoulders. He was tall, too. Most of his height coming from long legs.

"M-maybe." The brunete shrugged. "I mean, probably. I'm not sure how much you see of those missions." he chuckled, glancing to the portal.

"I see everything." Phyllis responded, not missing a beat, her face staying hard and serious. The stranger cleared his throat and fought off the chills of fear he just felt run up and down his spine about seven times. "I have definitely seen you before. You work with Penn Zero and friends before." She turned her gaze to the portal as well, watching as Boone screamed and rolled under the cover of what looked to be a plant.

"Penn Zero..." The stranger muttered, making sure to put the name away in his memory. "Uh, yeah. A little bit, I guess. I-I mean I usually do my own thing- he just happens to get in the way sometimes." The stranger tucked his hands into his pockets, fumbling with a button on his phone and wrapping his fingers in the wire of an earbud.

"You no longer do own thing. You work for me." Phyllis startled the stranger out of his spacing-out.

"What...?"

"You work for me. You join team and work doing missions to save universe. It not only helps me, but is very important and will prove I am working for good cause." She sat in one of the theatre seats and reclined, resting the bat next to her.

The stranger mumbled to himself for a bit, before sighing and agreeing.

"Fine. I can't really do anything else until it's fixed anyways, I may even tag along for a bit afterwards if I like this job." He crossed his arms and watched as the woman tinkered with his transporter. "Just... please be careful with it..."

"Don't worry, I am professional." As the words left her mouth, one of the buttons on the device popped out. "I will fix that." She paid no attention to the look of terror that crossed the brunette's face, like a mother who just watched her baby die by some cartoonish death, like a falling piano.

"Well, as long as I don't need to clean anything, take as much time as you need." The stranger put his hands on his hips after clearing his throat, taking on a cool demeanor.

"I think I have spare transporter somewhere. I can give it to you to use for missions." Phyllis wandered off, proving that the stranger wasn't so unique for having 'advanced handheld technology'. "It may not be as good as your toy, but I can synchronize it with multi-universe transprojector to work." She hadn't noticed the stranger wander down to get a closer look at the warp pad.

"Damn, you're a sexy beast..." He muttered to himself and to the machine, making a quiet growling sound as he ran a hand across the platform where the team usually stood. "Let me guess. Team stands here," he motioned to the three circles "then when you throw them into a dimension it works on a replacement system?"

"Bingo."

"Hm. I'm not sure that'll work for me."

"How so?"

"I don't think I can work with someone else's body. Mine is... kind of special. You think you could rig it kind of like my toy?" The stranger called back.

"You're asking for a lot, at this point I **will** make you clean." Phyllis responded, already back up to her perch near the controls of the MUT.

"I know, I know." The stranger tapped at his lips in thought. "Idea. You fix my thing, and sync it with your machine. That way, I'll still go to places with them, but it'll actually be **my** body. And to fit in I can just do a wardrobe and form modification like I usually do. Sound like a deal?" The stranger offered. He sighed to himself. "I'm willing to clean until you can fix it."

Phyllis thought for a moment. She didn't need to do too much to get the device working again, the difficult part was being able to make it work independently. If it had a larger source of power to work off, she could fix it up within a few hours... but, the theatre was awfully dirty, so she'd keep that part to herself. She didn't want to clean it herself, and she didn't trust to hire anyone, so this was as good as she was gonna get.

"Deal." She called down.

"Great. Now then, I don't do maid dresses unless shorts are supplied." The stranger chuckled, folding his hands behind his back, satisfied with the meeting.


	8. Chapter 8: Say GERONIMO!

**hey guys! i hate to interrupt the story like this, but a quick A/N**

 **i have no idea if anybody is enjoying the story or not, i have about 18 chapters of it done and i'm still working and have tons of plans to finish- so i don't plan to quit anytime soon! i just wanna say i haven't gotten any feedback. i got a tiny bit of positivity, but that's about it. the lack of reviews (both positive and negative) is kind of leading me to believe nobody is really paying attention to this? i hate to complain, but it is dragging me down a bit. (i do understand since it's an oc story, and those don't get a lot of attention)  
**

 **so if you EVER have any feedback you want to give, whether it be good or bad, please send it in! and if you really want to see anything happen in the future of this story, let me know and i'll try and possibly include it in the future! thanks so much to anybody who is paying attention to my silly little story!**

* * *

"Ah man, I can't wait to get home for some R&R." Penn stretched his arms above his head, feeling something in the center of his back pop. Once his feet had hit the platform, he felt his weight return and drag him into a slouch.

If he hadn't been yawning he would've noticed Boone and Sashi take quick steps to the side, maybe he would've avoided the headache.

His mind hadn't processed the suddenly shouted profanity, he opened his eyes and was brought to the ground by a weight.

"Oh... oh god..." A voice rang in Penn's ears as he let out his own groan.

"Crap, sorry. Sorry." A hand grasped the hero, dragging him to his feet and patting down his clothing to remove dust.

Penn managed to focus his vision, the image of a brunette clearing in front of him.

"Ahh! You!" Penn jumped back, pointing to the harnessed boy.

"Are we gonna do this again?" The brunette grinned, once again showing sharpened teeth.

"Guys! I told you!" Penn ignored him, grabbing Sashi's arm and guiding her attention to the stranger.

"Huh, how about that." She planted her hands on her hips, checking the stranger over. She defintely recognized the tired eyes and the messy hair.

"You're that guy that's been following us!" Boone exclaimed, snapping his fingers once he put a memory to the face.

"Sorry, I don't follow people. They were just... coincidences." The brunette crossed his arms. "And if I were following you, you wouldn't of noticed."

"Oh, really?" Sashi asked.

"Yes. How do you think I got here?"

"Enough chit-chat." Phyllis called from the balcony. "Everyone out."

The brunette unhooked his harness and removed it, having to stop and untangle his feet from the pile of broken rope around his ankles.

"You coming?" Sashi called back to Penn as her and Boone made their exits.

"Go on ahead..." He called back with little focus.

"... Can I help you?" The stranger, brows raised, asked. Feeling watched when he realized Penn had been staring.

"Nah, just... just wondering who the heck you are." Penn rubbed at his chin, wondering if something else was going to conveniently stop him from getting an introduction.

"You can talk outside, leave." Phyllis repeated, cutting off the conversation between the two boys.

They walked out, side-by-side, neither of them speaking. The stranger picking up the pace when they came to the exit, holding the door open for Penn to exit.

"Zachary."

"What?" The redhead stopped, turning back to the other.

"My name's Zachary." He smiled sweetly and offered his hand for a handshake. Penn couldn't tell if the look on his face was sincere or not, but he took the hand and shook it.

"Penn -"

"Zero, I know. Phyllis told me about you. So, you're the team leader?" Zachary released Penn's hand, folding it behind his back with the other.

"Uh, yeah. I'm a part-time hero~" Penn chimed, posing slightly, puffing out his chest to look more heroic.

"Insteresting... you don't look very heroic in this world." Zachary laughed, knocking Penn out of his fantasy.

He glared at the other, slouching. Only just realizing how short he was compared to Zachary. It was hard to figure out height differences when you only met someone in dimensions where you're hardly yourself. Penn straightened his posture, realizing that if he stared straight ahead he only got an eyeful of the taller male's fang-filled grin. Zachary let out a laugh, realizing that Penn was processing how small he is.

"Don't worry about it, I think you're kinda cute~" He giggled, rubbing the top of Penn's head and ruffling his hair. The redhead made quick work of attempting to flatten out the eternal mess that is his hair. "I look forward to working with you."

"Working with me? Aren't you just a janitor or something?" Penn tilted his head slightly.

"For now, I've made a deal with the lil' ol' lady in there. She fixes my toy, I return the favour by working with you lot." Zachary ended the sentence with a playful pat to Penn's chest with the back of his hand. "What are you anyways?"

Penn planted his hands on his hips, returning to the slightly heroic pose he'd taken earlier.

"I'm a part-time hero~"

"Part-time. I... feel like that's not how things work." Zachary said.

"What? What do you mean 'it's not how things work'." Penn responded, a slightly mocking tone dancing on his voice when he quoted the other.

"I mean- being a hero is a full time job, crime doesn't just wait until your shift starts. I mean, that's usually the case, I'm still fuzzy on how this world works." Zachary tucked his hands into his pockets.

"It's not... it's different... It just works, okay. We got a part-time hero, sidekick, and wiseman, to fight part-time villains." On the final words Penn jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards the neighbouring building..

"What does that make me?" Zachary asked, trying to think of titles that would work for him. He started thinking he could maybe be a mage or magician with his knowledge and abilities to use magic, but that was more a full-time thing for him.

"Uh... we kind of figured you'd be like an anti-hero or something." Penn shrugged, remembering the lunch room conversation with his team.

"Anti-hero?" Zachary thought for a moment, realizing that probably was the most fitting title due to his experiences and work. "I can't argue with that."

"Alright. Part-time anti-hero it is. Kind of a mouthful- but it works I guess." Penn nodded to the title.

"Sounds good to me." Zachary shook his head. "Nighty night, then." With a playful salute the brunette turned away, walking down the street, Penn taking the opposite direction to head his own way home.


	9. Chapter 9: A Whole New Impression

Zachary seemed to be fitting in decently enough. Nobody really talked to him at school, purely for the fact he was kind of weird. Even Penn, Boone, and Sashi tried to limit their interactions with the boy.

Teachers seemed to like him, but they still would get upset about his habit of doodling in class. While he was rather smart, and participated in class discussions, his attention span was equal to that of a goldfish.

During breaks throughout the day he'd usually be on his own, sometimes hanging upside down from things, other times hiding behind things and sitting in small spaces. He was definitely very different from Penn's original impression of the guy. Rather than being serious and hardworking, he was actually very laidback and easily distracted unless the job was actually to his interest.

Hence why he was so silent in Art class, he actually enjoyed the course quite a bit. Rippen barely noticed the guy's presence, never clueing in that Zachary was a part-time hero that he'd not only worked with, but had lost a couple of fights to. He'd usually just write the boy's projects off with the same distaste as he did with other students without giving his work even a first glance. This often earned glares, looks, and mockery from the brunette when the villain wasn't looking. They were usually very rude and often included inappropriate gestures, earning laughter from his classmates.

He seemed to have a whole new personality when they entered other dimensions for missions. While he was still pretty outgoing and fun, he was a lot more... irritable. He'd snap at the other team members for goofing off too much, or being too loud. There were times where he even got so frustrated and left to do his own thing for awhile, sometimes even advancing on the mission on his own to do things his way. There had only been one time where Penn and the others had been zapped out without expecting it because Zachary managed to figure out a puzzle or two to finish the mission.

This guy was impossible to understand. He also had frequent shifts from being rather clingy, constantly hanging off of and leaning on Penn, Boone, and Sashi, but other times he'd completely push them away and seem very agitated when they even brushed up against him.

Penn eventually gave up on trying to understand the anti-hero's personality.

His sleeping schedule was a whole other story.

Penn couldn't count the number of times the brunette had shown up outside his bedroom window in the wee hours of the morning to talk to him. Sometimes wanting to show the redhead things or bring him little gifts (not to different from the way a cat would), other times to drag him out to some 24 hour convenience store to get ice-cream in the middle of a rain storm. Luckily, this behavior never occured on school nights, usually saving itself for weekends.

* * *

"Yo, earth to Zac." Sashi snapped her fingers, attempting to wake him up. The trio had walked in to work after a day of school, which the brunette had been absent to, only to find him tucked into one of the seats of the Odyssey, his head hanging back and his legs hooked over the seat in front of him. It could be assumed he'd fallen asleep cleaning, or he decided to take a nap after a mission the previous day. Either way, he recovered from the sleeping position surprisingly well.

Stretching out and feeling his shoulders crack, he proceeded to roll out of his seat and onto the floor in front of the girl.

"Are you all right?" She asked, Zachary replied with an affirmative mumble as he ruffled his hair, not looking up from the floor. She continued walking past him, down to the warp pad to join the wiseman and hero.

Phyllis didn't bother to let Zachary stand up, opting to send him and the others away with minimal explanation to their mission.

* * *

"Boone? Sash?" Penn called, wandering around what looked to be a giant's house. No matter how much he craned his neck, he couldn't see over the table tops, and the chairs looked like mountains to him.

Every once in awhile he'd pass by ribbons and strings hanging off of sticks attatched to things, an instinct in him would arise to try and chase it...

No. He had work to do.


	10. Chapter 10: Dirty Paws

"Okay, guys. Real funny. You can come out now." Penn called as loud as he could, still wandering around the strange house.

The sound of, what was that? A bell? Every time he took a step he heard the sound of a twinkling, and his neck was incredibly warm.

The sound of scratching caught him off guard, the noise making his skin crawl- nails against class. Yikes.

"Penn! Penn!" The voice was muffled, but he knew it well.

Boone.

"Boone!" Penn called for his friend, doing his best to look around with his limited perspective and point of view. The only living creatures he saw were two cats sitting outside a window-

Oh.

Penn whipped around to see the window. Outside sat two rather large looking cats, one of which was a siamese cat. Tall and elegent looking. The other, looked to be a huge tabby cat, probably part maine coon. The tabby scratched at the window again.

"Penn! Hey, Penn!" He yowled.

Defintely Boone and Sashi.

"Gimme a sec, I'll let you guys in!" Penn called. Assuming he was a cat as well, jumping up to the height of the window wouldn't be too much trouble.

Sashi and Boone couldn't help but laugh at Penn, for his form and how he struggled to reach the top of the table. He'd fallen several times, others he simply didn't make it close enough to reach.

After several attempts, he managed to catch and pull himself up.

"Just sit tight, I'll have you guys in in a jiffy-" Penn stopped, looking at his reflection.

There was a tiny orange kitten in a blue collar staring back at him. He looked like some overly fluffy and adorble stuffed animal.

"Aww~ You're adorable~" Boone chimed, purring slightly at his tiny best friend. Penn's ears flattened against his head as he begrudgingly searched for a way to open the window, finding a lever on the side.

It wasn't easy due to his lack of weight and strength, but he managed to pop the window open, moving so Sashi could push the glass to give her and Boone more entry room.

"Hey, where's Zac?" Sashi asked, looking around the well-kept house curiously.

"If he's a human, I'm gonna be really upset." Penn muttered.

"Aww! You're so cute~" The trio all jumped at the voice, looking over to see their friend leaning against a doorway, fully human, of course. "So I take it this is some kind of cat world? It's like a dream come true for me." He waltzed over, bending down to get a closer look at his companions. As well as choosing to rub salt in the wound by picking Penn up with one hand, and giving him a thorough petting with the other.

"H-hey! Stop it! I... I..." Penn fought at first, clawing and ripping open the skin of the anti-hero's hand, but soon he fell victim to the pleasurable touches from the human.

"I think this is where Penn tells you to tell us the mission." Zachary laughed as Penn leaned into his touches.

"Alright," she raised a paw to her glasses, "We're house cats who need to stop the neighbours dogs from breaking into the house of a scientist that lives down the street. They plan to steal the plans for a machine, and then give them to their master, who wants to use it for certain destruction."

"Sounds like a bad disney movie to me..." Zachary muttered under his breath, swearing he'd heard of plotlines like that before.

"Can't we just throw some doggy treats into a cage and call it a day?" Boone stretched and yawned, feeling his feline instincts kicking in. Those instincts of course being: eat, sleep, and maybe fart a little bit.

Penn batted Zachary's hand away.

"No! We gotta get a move on!" He struggled, signaling Zachary to put him back on the table.

"Okay then, just gimme a sec." Zachary said, pulling his transporter out of his pocket, pressing a button on it to change his form to fit in with the world, as to not raise any suspicion.

With a flash of light, all that was left in his spot was a very small, very fluffy brown cat, adorned with a white belly and paws. He looked to be a kitten, just the same as Penn's size.

With one leap, he easily hopped up to join the others.

"So, where are these dogs?" Penn questioned, Sashi opened her mouth to speak, cut off by the sound of barking at full volume, Zachary had actually jumped back so far that he'd slipped off the table.

The barking stopped, and Rippen's laughter ensued.

"Oh look at you, aren't you all adorable!" The face of, what looked to be some kind of wolfdog-rottweiler popped up above the nearby fence that seperated the two yards. "You'll never stand a chance against me at that size!" He hummed, his tiny stub of a tail wagging. he would've continued on his evil monolouge, excited to throw some cat puns in with his banter with Penn, but he couldn't continue due to the yapping pomeranian bouncing up and down next to him. Larry wasn't even saying anything, just barking and panting. Rippen growled and kicked out a leg, trying to flick off the drool that had fallen from his minion's mouth.

Turning his attention back to the windowsill, the four cats were gone.

"Oh, fantastic." He sighed. "No matter, we simply wait for them to come out of hiding, then make quick work of them. I could swallow all of them whole." He curled up on the lawn, feeling rather proud of himself.

* * *

"I vote we go for the eyes." Zachary offered as the three of them planned in the living room.

Taking down a rottweiler and a pomeranian, would be no easy task for four cats, the biggest of which kept trying to wander off to take naps in the light that leaked in through the windows.

"Trust me on this, in most fights I've seen and dealt with between cats and dogs, especially with my own pets back home, the cat usually does pretty good. One, they're super flexible and slippery. Two, we practically have knives on our feet, let's just take their eyes out!" Zachary bared his claws, scratching at the air.

"We aren't blinding anybody." Penn lowered Zachary's paw with his own, wanting to stop the other kitten before somebody _did_ loose an eye. "We're gonna have to find a way to sneak around without alerting anybody that we're there..." Penn tapped at his chin, his tail flopping back and forth. He opened his mouth to speak forward, the sound of a door opening and closing cutting him short.

"Kitty? I'm home!" It was the sound of a woman.

"Hide!" Sashi hissed. The owner of the household- and whatever cat Penn had taken the place of -most likely wouldn't be happy to find three strange cats sitting in her living room. Boone ran for the window, barely making it out in time, Sashi chose to hide under the couch.

Zachary panicked for a moment, eyes darting back and forth- just as the lady entered the room, he took a dive into the kitchen, managing to open the breadbox on the counter, and sliding himself in with ease.

"Oh, there you are you handsome devil~" She chimed, picking Penn up and holding him close.

"Why thank- I mean... _meow_." He purred, rubbing against the woman as a cat would.

"Poor baby, you've been so lonesome all day~ I brought you a new toy from Grandma!" She set Penn down on the sofa, reaching into her purse and dropping a yarn ball onto the floor. "Now then, you and your new friend have some alone time, I'll put out more food for you, then it's back to work for mommy." She gave Penn a scratch behind the ear, while he did lean into it, it was nothing compared to the way Zachary did it.

Zachary watched from inside his hiding spot, keeping the box open just enough for him to peer out into the world. He watched the woman looking through the cupboards for catfood, with her attenion elsewhere and her back turned, he took his chance to safety.

Penn watched the brown kitten emerge from his hiding spot, and, without making a sound, dropping down the other side of the counter, out of the woman's sight. He ran across the floor, deciding a potted plant was a much better position.

"Be good, Snookums!" The woman called as she left after dumping some wet food into a bowl on the floor, slamming the door shut behind her.

"That was a close one." The sudden voice coming from right behind Penn caused him to jump. Zachary had already busied himself with the yarn ball, the string already draped and wrapped around him in a mess of knots and loops. Sashi slid out from the couch.

"It looks like now's our chance to get out of here, Boone's probably waiting for us outside." She spoke, looking to the window and seeing that Boone wasn't waiting to re-enter.

Penn led the way, first out the window, then onto the grass and around the house to meet their napping friend in front of the building.

"Where's this house that we need to find?" Zachary asked, looking and listening for any hints that the environment might give.

"All we know is he lives around here somewhere..." Sashi twisted her body, looking around curiously. She turned back to face the group, stopping when she noticed an absence.

Zachary was gone. Within the few seconds she'd turned around, the kitten had somehow managed to run to the other side of the lawn, now perching on one of the fence posts.

Penn had to catch a ride with Sashi to reach the other boy. She released the gingercat, opening her jaw to drop his nape. Boone decided it'd be easier for him to simply wait at the base of the fence, close enough to hear them chat.

"Idea." Zachary started. "We let Rippen and Larry do all the work for us."

"What!?" The other three exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Boone asked from below.

"I mean we let them find the house, and we let them break in." Zachary offered, hopping down to the ground below, landing skillfully and lightly. Penn attempted to do the same, but chose to have Sashi carry him down instead.

"We can't do that! If they get in before us, they're gonna win for sure!" Penn protested once Sashi released him, he shook his limbs out a bit to get the feeling back from being temporarily immobalized by the siamese.

"Hear me out, you guys might not be quick enough. But trust me, I've been in worse situations." Zachary stated, bringing up more questions about his past, none of which had ever touched the knowledge of the other members of the team.

"Boone, Sashi, I just need you two to distract Rip and Larry when they get inside the house- I don't care what you do, just give me and Penn-orama enough time to find the plans they're planning to steal." Zachary finished, fighting off a smirk as he saw Penn's ear twitch, frustratedly, at the nickname.

* * *

"It seems they're still stuck inside the house, ha!" Rippen barked, laughing as him and Larry made their way down the street."Stupid cats, can't even figure out how a doorknob works." He chuckled to himself, treading down the street, a swagger of confidence in his walk.

"You know, they kind of remind me of the time I participated in a cry-athalon for kittens without whisk-"

"Yes, Larry, I've heard the story." Rippen sighed, wanting more than anything for this mission to go by with minimal annoyance, and he _really_ didn't need to hear Larry's stories with his heightened sense of hearing. He stopped, sniffing the air. The only scent he had to go off of was the smell of chemicals. "Are you getting anything, Larry?" He asked the henchman.

Larry gave a couple of strong sniffs.

"Oh! Oh! That way!" He hopped up and down, his hair rippling with the motion.

"Well, good job. Lead the way." Rippen demanded, taking on a jog to keep up with the sprinting pomeranian.


	11. Chapter 11: Monsters in the Attic

**i'll add in a quick warning for violence and injury in this chapter!**

* * *

"Alright, they're on their way." Sashi announced from the bushes, watching the canines run to their destination.

The quartet made their move, each trying to be as stealthy as possible. They took cover by the side of the house, using the shadows and a lawn gnome to hide themselves, watching carefully as the canines inspected the area.

Rippen stuck his nose to the ground, looking for any kind of opening. Larry following the action, the two of them circling the house.

"You know, Larry looks adorable with that little powderpuff tail." Zachary suppressed a laugh.

"We can talk about how cute Larry is later, come on." Penn signalled for the group to head out with a wave of his little orange paw. They all stayed close to the ground in a single file line, covering as little ground as possible to avoid sighting.

Rippen stopped, not reacting when Larry bumped into him. He took a moment, examining a section of the wall further. It was boarded off. Very suspicious, he took an experimental jab, poking his nose to the plywood. It gave ever so slightly, this was the way.

The party circled around the house just in time to see Rippen turn, kicking the door down with a kick of his hind legs. Larry took the trip down first, hopping down a set of steps that led to the basement.

"Alright. We should be finding the plans in the attic... no sign of those heroes yet. This is going splendid." Rippen chimed, taking up a trot as he wandered about the basement, twisting between the supports and columns to find the stairs.

Sashi peered around the corner, giving a signal- two flicks of her tail- to say that the coast was clear.

Three of them descended the steps, Zachary decided to reach the floor in a single bound, aiming slightly to the side to land beside the stairs. That's when they went their seperate ways, Zachary and Penn climbing over top of boxes to stay out of sight, Boone and Sashi catching up with the villains to follow them.

The canines had not found the stairs to the house's main area yet, they were just walking in circles in the darkened basement.

With great speed, the two kittens slipped through the darkness, staying on the higher route to find the stairs first, proving to be a success, a faint light from the floor above awaiting them. They took a quick leap, then scurried further into the house.

"Alright. Rippen said the plans were in the attic, right? We just gotta get their and, like... I dunno... piss on them or something." Zachary stated, slinking away through the halls.

"What!?" Penn stopped.

"I'm kidding, nobody is peeing on anything. Besides, we got these puppies." Zachary bared his claws again, showing them off along with his cat-like fangs. His smile actually looked more human than usual.

Penn turned to the stairs, hearing the sound of nails clicking against cement, Rippen and Larry were nearing the staircase.

"We better hurry." Penn bounded ahead, looking around corners for any sign of an attic, maybe a door or stairs or-

"Whoop, look. Multi-story house." Zachary purred, pulling himself up to the first step of a staircase leading to the second floor.

* * *

"Alright, Boone. We need a plan, how are we gonna distract these guys." Sashi asked in a hushed tone. Boone hummed in thought.

"Well, I think we should save physical injury for last." Boone stated. His ears perked up suddenly with an idea. "Dog treats!"

"What?"

"We throw a BUNCH of dog treats on the floor, there's no way they'll be able to resist that!" Boone chimed.

"That's... not a bad idea." Sashi smiled. "But where are we gonna find dog treats? I don't think this scientist person owns a dog!" Sashi questioned, Boone furrowing his brow to think further.

"Every dog I've babysat liked any food..." He trailed off his thought.

"Alright, so we just empty the fridge onto the floor?"

"Bingo." Boone confirmed.

They waited for Rippen and Larry to make it up the stairs before following, then proceeding to rush to the kitchen, hoping that Penn and Zachary were already ahead of the game.

Sashi lept to the counter, doing her best to catch her claws on the cupboard doors to pry them open, finding all sorts of boxes of food.

"Score!" She purred, finding an opened bag of beef jerky, She took the plastic between her teeth, dragging it down and onto the floor, joining Boone, who was struggling to open the refridgerator.

"Stupid paws! Stupid no-thumbs..." He whined, scratching helplessly at the appliance. Sashi took his spot, choosing to push rather than pull. It was easy for her, due to her paws being very dainty and easy to press to the small amount of overhang of the door. It took a bit of effort, but the suction of the fridge eventually gave out, opening with ease.

The two felines set to work, jumping in and pushing things out. Boone found a package of meat that looked to be set out to thaw, taking the plastic between his teeth and tugging it out onto the floor.

"We need to make more noise..." Sashi meowed, they needed to get the attention of the dogs, then get out of there as soon as possible. She kicked out a few more things dogs might like (some sandwich meat, a package of cheese slices, and a galon of orange juice.)

While she continued to work, Boone caught sight of a cloth hanging off the counter, on top of it...

a line of glasses, set out to dry next to the sink. He marched to the fabric, reaching up and sinking his claws into what he could reach. Sashi noticed his plan, jumping out of the fridge and taking her exit just as he pulled, bringing the glasses down on the floor where he once was before he fled.

Rippen's ears caught up on the sound.

"Those damn heroes..." He growled, the sound vibrating deep in his throat.

Him and Larry barked, running to the kitchen, both with teeth bared and expecting to find a party of cats goofing around.

Nothing, except a feast.

No.

"That's disgusting..." Rippen forced himself to turn around, Larry on the other hand had (literally) doven in and was enjoying himself thoroughly. He started, struggling with a closed package of turkey slices, leaving Rippen's eyes to catch the beef jerky. He swallowed, trying to turn away.

But, he couldn't. The dog side of him took over, and he slid across the floor, grabbing his prize and tearing it open, biting into the trap and buying the heroes more time to work.

* * *

"How are we gonna get up there?" Penn asked, the two kittens looking up at the latch they'd need to unhook to reach the attic. Of course, it was miles out of their reach.

Zachary looked around, hoping he'd find something to help.

It was an empty house, with a bedroom down the hall. Next to the bedroom's entrance...

A dumbwaiter. Zachary gave Penn a bump with his hip, guiding the ginger's attention to the tiny elevator.

They both made a break for it, struggling to climb in. Zachary gave Penn a boost, letting the kitten jump onto his back for a few inches of extra height.

"We can't waste any more time!" Rippen's barking rang through the house, Boone and Sashi running up the stairs in a panic.

"We can't distract them any... longer!" Boone panted.

"You two get into the dumbwaiter." Zachary headbutted Sashi's side, attempting to push her towards the elevator. "I'll take over."

"What?!" Sashi exclaimed, the sound of nails tapping against wood flooring ringing closer, and closer.

"Just go! I know what I'm doing." She hesitated, but took the jump, waiting for Boone to hop in as well before tapping a button that would take them to the attic. They rose, seeing the tiny, fluffy form of the anti-hero disappear behind the wall.

"Oh, it's just you. What was your name again? Jack?" Rippen asked, half mocking, half never actually bothering to remember the kid's name.

"It's unimportant to you." Zachary hissed, taking on his more serious-side.

"No matter, I'll eat you up in one bite, and then I'll reach those plans with no fuss." Rippen's ears picking up the sound of something above, like boxes falling around.

"Curses, they're already up there..." Rippen let a growl out again. His eyes fell to Zachary, the tiny kitten, using all his might to look threatening. Rippen huffed, a very unimpressed sound. "Larry." Rippen signalled, giving Zachary a look, telling his minion to attack.

Larry momentarily hopped up and down excitedly, ready to attack. He growled for a moment, lunging forward, Zachary hopped to the side to avoid the tiny dog, not noticing the much larger paw that came down, knocking him to the side and into the wall. Being a cat, it didn't do much damage- he shook it off with no problem. Rippen took the extra second to take a strong kick to the other wall, the stairs to the attic falling with the trick.

"Larry, come." He spat to his henchman, putting his head low for Larry to hop on for a lift. Letting the pomeranian go up first, he began the ascent himself, stopping and yelping when a stinging rang through his side. The pain caught him off guard, causing his balance to fail, and he fell off the steps.

With an acid-like glare, he stared daggers into the kitten whom had dug his claws into his flesh. Rippen simply dropped to his side, crushing the boy, before standing up, having the creature removed.

Zachary recovered, claws still out and ready.

"Oh? You want more? You're nothing compared to me." Rippen bared his teeth, ready to attack.

* * *

Sashi took the plans in her jaws, jumping to the top of a stack of boxes to escape the dog who had interrupted their victory. Larry barked and even took a few nips at the back of Boone's legs. Penn hissed, lashing out and clawing at the small dog as a warning.

All conflict stopped at a horrifying sound.

Penn recognized the sound, he'd heard cats fighting around his house all the time.

But the only time he heard a sound like that, was the day he saw his first dead animal.

Ignoring everything else, he dove. Flying over Larry's head and immediately dashing down the steps, catching a single second sight.

The image of Rippen standing over a brown cluster.

Brown and red, that is.

Penn felt Rage boil as Rippen turned away from the other kitten.

"AIM FOR THE EYES!" The hero shouted, his paws flying from the attic stairs.

His aim was a little off, he instead caught Rippen by the cheek, ripping three long lines into his flesh. The villain stumbled back, shaking Penn off and onto the floor.

The kitten landed perfectly, running over and nosing his head underneath the chin of his fallen companion.


	12. Chapter 12: It's Just a Good-Bad Joke

**continuing on the injury warning**

* * *

 _"Call a medic!" Pennn screamed, his knees hitting the ground once him and the team were zapped back home. His companion hanging on him like dead weight, blood covering the both of them. Sashi and Boone quickly ran to make calls, Phyllis wasting no time in hopping down, first-aid kit clutched in her fist._

* * *

"You okay, buddy?" Penn asked, his voice shaking slightly. He gave light pats to the brunettes cheek, trying to wake him up.

* * *

 _As Penn had fought off Rippen, Sashi and Boone took the distraction to make quick work of tearing up the plans, the party of cats being zapped out of that dimension before anymore harm could befall anybody._

* * *

Zachary's eyes slid open, lazily. The first thing coming into view, was the panic-ridden face of one Penn Zero. His vision cleared slightly with a few blinks, the feeling and awareness of his surroundings flooding in.

He was laying on the floor of the Odyssey, all items of clothing and accessories above his waist removed. Penn cradled his head in his lap, trying not to cry and drop tears onto the other male. He failed slightly, a droplet of liquid rolling down Zachary's cheek after it made its descent from Penn's eye. Zachary tried to sit up, his breathing stopping momentarily as pain shot up from his side.

"Lay down, no moving." Phyllis ordered from a few feet away, packing up a first-aid kit and removing a bloodied pair of rubber gloves.

"What the hell happened?" Zachary asked, letting his head fall to rest on Penn's legs again, the redhead now leaning back on his hands.

"Well, we won, at least. But Rippen, being a huge nasty rottweiler, ripped a chunk out of your side..." Penn tried to keep his cool, his voice wavering only slightly on the final words.

"Ouch..." Zachary commented, acting as if he had only heard a story of a painful mishap.

"You are lucky I prepare for first-aid. Usually bodies do not sustain damage from missions-unless damage is death. But, I guess you're different, since you don't replace anybody in other world." Phyllis added, making her way to put her kit away on the balcony. Zachary weakly lifted a hand, placing it to his side. Even with the thick wrapping of gauze around his waist, he could feel the uneveness of his skin.

The stitches were done well and clean, but he could feel the panic on some of the loops. Some of the stitches taking different angles, not lining up with the rest in a parallel.

"Where are Sashi and Boone?" Zachary asked, only now realizing the absence of the other two.

"Sashi's calling the hospital, Boone is calling my aunt and uncle to explain- or make up- the situation." Penn replied, unconsciously taking a hand and rubbing it through Zachary's hair like he was petting a cat to calm himself down.

Silence fell for a moment, the only sound being the breathing, rapid heart beats, and the sound of Phyllis working away on her platform.

Zachary snickered.

He chuckled.

He laughed.

He laughed until tears were flowing down his cheeks, laughing like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

"No laughing, you'll pop stitches!" Phyllis warned, the response being the boy muffling his laughter as best he could. He sat up, ignoring the pain and wiping tears from his eyes.

The look on Penn's face rang both concern and confusion.

"Sorry... I just. Wow, not my greatest moment. Sorry about scaring ya'll..." He gave Penn a pat on the knee.

"Wha... you're apologizing?! for almost **dying**!?" Penn felt the last word sting on his tongue and in his eyes.

Zachary shrugged, his laughter trailing off into the occassional chortle. He didn't bother wiping the stream of tears that had reformed on his cheeks, letting the trails dry and clear away the layer of sweat.

"Pfft, yeah. I screwed up, that _really_ wasn't my greatest moment."Zachary leaned back, feeling rather whoozy.

Penn was about to rant further, the sound of sirens coming closer cutting him off.

"Come on." Without warning, he lifted Zachary off the ground, leaning the injured anti-hero on his shoulder.

...

"Thank-you." Zachary whispered, leaning his head on Penn's shoulder, letting the redhead carry his weight. "And good job out there." Ending the sentence with playful slap to Penn's butt. The redhead just rolled his eyes, giving a chuckle to the minor distraction from his worry.


	13. Chapter 13: Young and Fiery

**i'd like to extend a huge thank-you to any readers! i'm so happy that people _might_ care about my dumb oc! have any suggestions for future chapters? let me know!**

* * *

Zachary had fallen uncharacteristically quiet on the ride to the hospital, spending the whole ride staring into space, not even catching onto the words Penn spoke, trying to comfort the brunette and himself.

All the doctor's did was redo Phyllis's stitching, replacing the strands of thread with properly placed staples.

They spoke of him making a steady recovery, after asking what happened, Phyllis cut in, telling the truth of it being a work place injury. Leaving out the whole story, letting the doctors assume maybe it was a factory facility or there was heavy machinery involved.

They discharged him after several days, all of which the brunette never spoke, simply scrolling through his phone and occassionally texting friends whom nobody knew.

Sashi, Boone, and Penn all heard their first news on the boy's living situation, all refusing to let him go back to his cardboard shelter. He was prone to infection even more so than before, that'd just be sending him to his death. With a vote, they all decided he stay with Penn. Zachary had argued, saying he couldn't burden the boy, but the redhead had none of it.

* * *

"Does your friend want some breakfast?" Aunt Rose asked as Penn came down from his bedroom, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Zachary hadn't been eating a lot, only accepting about one meal per day, and it was usually light. Penn, however, still insisted on stacking up four of the offered waffles onto his plate, making the trip back up the steps to the attic.

"Hey, breaky time." Penn poked at the sleeping brunette with his foot.

"I'll pass" Zachary mumbled, turning over to look at the hero. The sleep was still heavy in his eyes.

Penn rolled his eyes.

"Eat." The word was firm, he took two of the waffles in his hand dropping the plate onto his friend's lap, who just stared at it with the usual tired eyes.

Zachary chuckled, shaking his head slightly and doing nothing more but looking at the breakfast. Penn chewed his waffles up quickly, swallowing them in large chunks so he could put quick work into dressing himself for the day. Zachary on the other hand had fallen asleep sitting up, a line of drool falling to the food on his lap.

This was the usual morning routine.

Penn would manage to wake himself up, then work to waking up the other with breakfast. There usually wasn't much talking as Zachary had a habit of spacing out or falling back asleep.

It usually wasn't until Penn was doing up the laces on his shoes that Zachary finally made his way down the steps, looking as tired and unkempt as always.

Through living together, Penn learned many secrets about the strange boy. The two most prominent being his fear of spiders, and how many layers the guy wore... the second being learned purely through Penn sharing a few of his clothing items with the taller boy.

The trio had always thought their newest friend just wore a long sleeved shirt under his jacket, always wondering how he survived the warm weather. Even more concern arising when Penn learned the sleeves that nearly covered his hands from out under his jacket sleeves actually belonged to a blue, pixel patterned hoodie he wore underneath the coat.

Penn had managed to convince the boy to loose the winter-worthy attire of a scarf and two jackets, he instead took on wearing a loose plaid shirt over a white t-shirt and black shorts for the hotter days. The money used for the clothing had come from an 'anonymous tip' Penn had brought home with him one day after a day of work that Zachary did not attend. (It was Phyllis, everyone knew Phyllis found it in her heart to supply enough money for some non-bloodstained clothing for the boy. She needed to keep her employees happy, right?)

Not much in the school had changed, outside of Rippen.

Zachary had left a few unfinished projects on easels, he had set his mind to finish them, but never got around to due to him needing recovery time. Penn kept a close eye on Rippen's behavior, noticing that the villain would nearly squirm when the two of them made eye contact long enough. It also didn't help that Rippen hadn't learned that the boy lived, he was sure that the tiny, crumpled, kitten body was the last he'd see of his ex-partner.

In fact, every time Rippen looked at Zachary's unfinished projects, he'd find the strangest habit of scratching at his cheek. There were no marks there, but if injuries had passed over from dimensions and forms, then the part-time villain would've had three long scars where Penn had caught him with his claws.

Sashi had reported catching a glimpse of the sheet Rippen scribbled his notes onto, for grading students and various notes and reminders for himself.

"He has a mark written for Zachary." She'd whisper at the lunch table. "He's giving him an A..."

"Whoa, he really does think he's dead, doesn't he?" Boone gaped.

"Well, he's in for a surprise when our buddy bounces back~" Penn added, feeling a shot of excitement run through him at the thought of their team becoming whole again.


	14. Chapter 14: Into The Woods

"Laugh all you want! You try walking with four legs!" Penn's cheeks flushed as he had to use a high-rising tree root to keep himself up, quite literally hanging off of it. He gave himself a hard push to try and straighten his shaking legs. "I hate this world already!" With the shout his weight came crashing down.

Sashi giggled. "I kind of like it." She moved to a nearby pond, admiring her attire.

It was easily identified as a fantasy-enchanted-forest world. Sashi replacing an archer, an array of weapons tucked into the belt that kept her forest green tunic hugging tight to her waist. Boone got the fortune of becoming an elf, the only downside was how connected he was with the forest.

"Wow, the trees talk _a lot._ " He complained, trying to plug his ears to block the voices of nature that rang in his head.

"Just stop paying attention." Sashi suggested, Boone's face reflecting relief as he ignored the voices and focused on physical existence rather than spiritual.

Penn had gotten the short end of the stick.

The poor boy was a deertaur. Freckles dotted his skin and white patches littered his haunches, two well-grown antlers sprouted from his mess of fiery hair. Having four legs in this world was far different than being a cat- even flurgle had an easier time walking when Penn fused with it.

"How do my organs even work..." Penn questioned, looking himself over once he'd managed to get his balance enough to stand.

Sashi shrugged. Genuinely not knowing the answer. Penn sighed, taking a few experimental steps, his tail wagging slightly when he realized he'd gotten the hang of his limbs.

"We need to make peace with the Forest King, who has waged war against the humans of the nearby kingdom." Sashi announced their goal.

"Alright, peace-making. Should be easy enough." Penn clasped his hands together. "We've done this before-should be easier since we're not huge destructive monsters."

"Woohoo! Onwards to peace!" Boone cheered, pumping his fists in the air. With another cheer he hopped up onto Penn's back, kicking his heels into the deertaur-hero's sides like a horse. Penn flinched with the kicks, scowling and sitting down, dumping Boone into a puddle of water and moss.

Sashi couldn't fight off laughing slightly at the mess. "Come on, we should hurry." The trio began quickly making their way through what looked to be terrifying, twisted woods.

The way grew into a tangle of shadows, the path curling and turning in all directions. The air wasn't filled with fairydust as it seemed to have been at the beginning of their journey, a sense of fear and despair replacing the magic.

The air smelled rather thickly of smoke as well, the trio could only assume there were dragons in this world, and that they were entering dangerous territory.

Penn and Boone both yelped and stumbled back when a small reptile lunged at them, Sashi making quick work of the animal with a single shot from her arrow. The two boys looked at the skewered creature, not really phased by the gore, more examining it's strange features.

It looked like a bearded dragon, only it's body was a scaly tail, it only had two front legs as well.

"Hey, look. Dinner." Sash grinned in a joking manner, grabbing the arrow, holding the skewered reptile, causing Penn to gag slightly at seeing the animal flop around lifelessly.

Sashi took on being defense for the team, focusing her attention on aiming her weapon around at anything that may jump out again. Penn let her ride on his back so she would be able to keep her focus and not trip, Boone on the other hand complained about Penn not letting him ride.

His complaining soon faded, Penn assuming that the boy had run out of energy, focusing it on walking rather than talking, neither him or Sashi noticed he'd fallen behind the group and out of sight.

Nothing seemed to attack the remaining two, both of them calming down enough to finally turn around, finding their friend gone. Penn had a miniature meltdown, Sashi having to calm him down by splashing the water of a pond into his face.

"We'll find him later! For now we need to get out of here..." She looked around the woods, scratching at her chin. If they could manage to escape the maze of trees, they could turn back to retrieve their wiseman.

* * *

"Ugh, it's been forever!" Penn complained, letting his back legs give out, falling into a sitting position. He crossed his arms and pouted, rubbing his sides to warm himself up. He wasn't a big fan of any mission that involved him being half naked- especially in the wilderness.

Sashi rolled her eyes, taking a bite out of an apple she'd retrieved from a nearby tree. The fruit dripping juices with each bite, she ran an arm across her chin to remove the liquids. She took a seat next to Penn, not entirely minding the idea of taking a break. Her legs hurt, and her feet ached. The shoes she'd been stuck with weren't the best quality, as she felt each rock she stepped on poke through the worn-down soles. Penn let the rest of the deer half of his body come to a rest, his limbs neatly folded up under his body. He wasn't really sure what to do with the rest of himself, simply choosing to just cross his arms.

They hadn't expected it, but the two remaining team members had dozed off. Their conversation cutting short with the sound of Sashi snoring. Penn did his best to stay awake on his own, but he continued yawning uncontrollably, eventually passing out himself.

He didn't dream of much, or he didn't remember anything at least. Not much time was given for him to remember details upon his awakening, for something was calling him. He carefully stirred, not wanting to wake the archer by his side.

With careful steps and silent hooves he made his way through the woods, following the sound. He perked up his fuzzy deer-esque ears, to catch what must've been the sound of honey flowing through the air.

A voice, a beautiful song.

He felt his vision blur for a second, almost lightheaded, but he recovered before any stumbling.

An open pond greeted him, much different than the rest of the forest. Vines and moss hung around the opening, like fancy decorations.

Pink flowers littered the scenery as well, climbing up trees and growing from the hanging greenery. He stopped his forward wandering only when he dipped a hoof in the water.

" _Oh, come closer."_ A voice called to him, there was a girl. Her skin was a pale blue, her eyes magnificent magenta, and her hair must've been the most beautiful silk. She waved a hand to Penn, welcoming him closer to where she floated. " _I wish not to hurt you, we don't get many visitors._ " She swam away gracefully, Penn getting sight of a sparkling tail cutting through the water.

"A mermaid..." Penn whispered to himself, the girl giggled at his staring, lifting her tail out of the water for him to see the fins better.

" _Oh, so you noticed? Do you like it?_ " She almost seemed to pose, beckoning Penn closer.

He raised a hoof, stopping himself just as ripples flowed out from underfoot when he took a step forward.

"No. No. I can't. I'm busy." He shook his head, turning and walking away, but he could feel her staring holes into the back of his head. "I... guess... Sashi'll be asleep for at least five more minutes- and I'm sure Boone'll find her." He reassured himself, turning around and walking to the water again, excited to spend time with the pretty girl.

" _Come swim..._ " She chimed.

"I really shouldn't- I just ate." Penn made up the excuse. He couldn't get too distracted. The girl pouted deeply, sticking out her lower lip.

" _At least come closer, so we can talk._ " She swam right up to the edge of the water, as far as she could go without her entire body being submerged in only an inch or two of water. He weighed his options, thinking nothing too bad could happen- worst comes to worst Boone and Sashi would complain that he'd been flirting rather than working after finding him again. Penn carefully knelt down, folding his legs underneath his body, and leaning his torso forward. The girl doing the same, their faces grosing closer, both reaching out their hands to the other...

" **MAGIC AXE!** " The shout cut through the air, much like the weapon did. Penn had barely been given a second to jump back before an axe came spinning through the air, planting itself in the mermaid's forehead, she fell back with a screech that seemed to shake the trees.

With that, the world around Penn melted. Colour fell from the trees, the moss and vines withered. The beautiful pink flowers died, falling to the ground and curling up like ashes.

This was just like the rest of the darkened woods...

The girl turned out to be the scariest part of it all.


	15. Chapter 15: Try Hard Die Hard

"Oh my gosh!" Penn screeched, the previously beautiful girl had now turned into a grotesque fish-beast. A siren. Her hair hung limp and soggy, like moss and seaweed, her skin took on the texture of scales. Magenta eyes yellowed, filled with pupils that only showed as thin slits.

Her breath was raspy, the axe taking away her life with each second, purple, lumpy blood flowed out of the wound. The entire image was sure to scar the redhead.

"Get away from her!" The voice called again, Penn happily followed the order, immediately springing to his hooves and backing up. His tail and ears perking straight up and stiff with alertness and terror.

With the boy's pale skin, it was easy to see the shape of him before he'd fully emerged from the shadows.

"Zachary!?" Penn exclaimed with both surprise, and slightly annoyed due to the fact the brunette was supposed to be resting. He could tell that the boy wasn't ready for action, obvious by the way he clutched his injured side, he looked slightly paler than usual- obviously weak.

"Phyllis called me for emergency work. Said you and Sashi were taking a nap, and that Boone was stuck with some troll under a bridge?" Zachary adding a tone of confusion to the last part. Penn slapped his forehead.

"Boone! I completely forgot about him! Is he okay?" Penn asked, unable to stop his hooves from bouncing up and down nervously.

"He's fine. The trolls are oddly nice." Zachary noted, snapping his fingers, the axe disappearing. Penn's eyes lit up at the trick, the brunette noticing and shrugging. "I guess I'm a wizard, pretty fitting." He flattened out his robe, which was rather long, hanging to his ankles. The dark purple fabric looked comfortable and soft, like silk patterned with galaxies and planets. The black combat boots kind of stood out with the white pants tucked into them, Zachary arguing that he liked them when Penn pointed out the heavy footwear clashing with the light robe.

"Okay! Can we stop talking about my fashion! We gotta find Sashi, I know exactly where Boone is, when he got lost he just followed a creek and found his way out." Zachary's voice carrying a slightly frustrated tone.

"Right." Penn nodded, waiting for Zachary to take the lead- not expecting the boy to plant his hands onto his backside, then proceed to jump onto him leapfrog style. He sent a scowl over his shoulder, but he was thankful there was no side kicking.

"What?" Zachary questioned, not understanding the look the redhead was giving him.

Penn opened his mouth to protest against the position, but he simply waved it off, realizing this was probably better for the anti-hero's condition. With slow pace, gradually gaining speed, he trotted into the woods on a hunt for the rest of the team.

* * *

Zachary had his hand held out, open palm, a glowing ball of blue light floating gently, the glow illuminating their path. Penn took cautious steps forward, trying his best to not step on any napping animals, and avoiding tree roots. The last thing he needed was to break his leg, and launch the guy with a foot long gash in his side.

The sound of snoring came from nearby, noting the two males of their sleeping companion.

"Psst, Sashi. Sashi." Zachary poked at the girl with a stick he'd created out of thin air, the pole glowing and slightly transparent. She groaned, stirred, and batted the intruding object away, he hand flowing right through it. "You awake, sugar cheeks?" Zachary questioned as the item vanished.

Sashi sighed, glaring up at the nickname, Zachary simply responding with a mischevious grin.

"Come on, Zac found out where Boone is. Apparently he's having a tea party with some trolls down the river." Penn turned, his hooves clacking against the slightly solid ground. With a yawn, Sashi stood and stretched out. With confirmation that she was ready to go, they set off. Working only off the light that Zachary supplied, all three unsure of whether it was day or night.

* * *

The trip continued, the sound of running water growing ever closer. Zachary figured he didn't need to give directions anymore, choosing to lounge back, sitting backwards on Penn's back, leaning against the redhead's torso. He kept his eyes locked at the fingers of his hand that wasn't holding the orb, waving the digits through the air, creating thin, shining, and sparkling paths in the dark. Sashi's eyes stayed locked on the display, watching as the boy absentmindedly created swirling lines with his finger-tip, sometimes even drawing out simple pictures that he'd barely finish before the lines disappeared slowly.

"Those are some pretty cool tricks." She commented when the speed of Zachary's drawing slowed. He hadn't noticed her paying attention, the flushing of his cheeks barely noticable.

"Uh... thanks..." He smiled slightly, giving his body a push so he was sitting upright. "You doing okay up there, dude." Zachary asked over his shoulder. "You don't need me to hop-off?" He worried his weight was distorting the boy's spine, or tiring him out.

"It's cool." Penn replied, having almost forgotten about the weight of the other person. The deer-extension of his body acting strongly and holding the weight with ease. Zachary planted his hands in front of himself, pushing up and doing his best to turn around to face forward without too much wiggling.

"It sounds like we're getting pretty close." Sashi attempted to look through the trees, seeing if she could catch sight of any running water through the woods. The inky blackness stopped her vision from covering any ground. Zachary inhaled deeply through his nose.

"I think it's just around the corner." He squeezed his legs to Penn's sides, lifting himself up and holding the boy's antlers to look over his head.

"H-hey. Ah!" Penn protested, shaking his head slightly. Not being used to it, he didn't particularily enjoy the sensation of his antlers being handled. It was rather unpleasant. Almost a feeling of something tugging at his skull. Zachary caught the message and let go, resting back down.

Sashi stepped ahead of the two, picking up her pace momentarily. Squinting her eyes, the dark was impossible to see past.

Zachary dropped off of Penn, sliding carefully, one hand to his side, the other holding the light. He approached Sashi, standing beside her and holding the light out for her to see better.

"I see it!" She exclaimed, eyes catching the light bouncing off of moving waves. "Here's the path Boone must've taken." Pointing to the side, this path being rather narrow, the risk of falling into the water being there. Penn trotted to the humanoids, feeling slightly nervous that his body may be too heavy or large for the small trail.

"You're gonna do fine, big guy." Zachary sensed Penn's distress, giving him a gentle pat and a rub on the side. "Come on, Boone can only be a good conversation partner for so long." Zachary took the lead, stepping with one foot in front of the other, focusing mostly on keeping his balance.

The cold water bit at their ankles often, this mostly bothered Penn since he was the only one of the group not adorned in boots.

Everyone in the group had slipped on the mud at least a few times, but luckily never landed in the water. If a foot were to come off the trail, Zachary would immediately react to any yelping with magic, placing a platform to catch any limbs that came close to the water.

Everyone survived the walk, the worst damage being done was that Sashi's shoes had been soaked through with water, and Penn was shivering due to his lack of a shirt to cover his bare skin.

"H-how far down the river did you say he is?" Penn asked, attempting to warm himself with friction, rubbing his hands on his arms. He wasn't really asking out of curiousity, more so he was hoping the troll's home would provide warmth.

Past the thin path, the forest did seem to open and warm up a bit. "It should just be a bit further." Zachary stated, examining their area. He remembered the image Phyllis had shown him. A small home built of dirt, blocking the river from flowing any further. A bridge had been built crossing over top of the home to allow travelers to cross, but both sides had been blocked off with signs as to keep humans from traveling with ease.

Further walking.

The grass took on a greener hue, flowers began popping up here and there- first as small and white bundles, sooner spreading into huge patches of pinks and yellows.

Sashi laughed as a bird flew down and decided to hitch a ride on Penn's antlers, the deertaur grumbling before stopping to shake the critter off. It tweeted angrily, before taking flight again.

"Looks like a cozy place." Penn commented, the three of them entering a village.

Small houses made of dirt filled the area, trolls of all shapes and sizes wandered around the paths. There looked to be a market deeper in.

"Ugh, we're never gonna find the one with Boone in it!" Sashi grumbled, as each of the houses did look the same. The differences being tiny details, usually the decorations around the windows.

"I've got an idea, stand back." Zachary warned, stepping between the other two to take the lead. Kneeling to the ground in a low squat, he pinched his thumb and forefinger together, creating a ring with his fingers. He brought the loop to his lips, blowing gently through his finger tips.

A silver string slowly formed, glittery and glowing slightly. None of the trolls reacted as it twisted between the crowd, weaving its way to a destination.

Penn and Sashi stood back in awe of the trick, Zachary stood, clapping his hands together after a successful spell.

"Wait, wait, wait. Why didn't you do that before?" Penn asked, noting that the ribbon of silver would've been extremely useful in their previous situation. Zachary simply looked to the trail, then back to Penn, giving a shrug.

* * *

"Guys! Glad you could make it!" Boone greeted, a beverage in his hand. The troll that had let the trio into his home sat down, offering seats to the three of them as well.

"Hm, I don't think I have a chair big enough for you..." The troll muttered, looking at Penn. "You may have to take the couch, dear boy." The elder laughed, waving an arm towards the living area, in which there was a long, well cushioned sofa. Penn sighed, taking the seat. Zachary scooted his chair back slightly and to the side, opening the circle for Penn to be able to see in from his seat, a couple feet away from the table.

"Where have you been?!" Sashi started off, turning to Boone and startling him slightly with the sudden volume.

"Huh? Oh, I stopped to take a breather and you and Penn disappeared on me." Boone started, taking a sip from his drink, only continuing after swallowing. "I ended up walkin' around for a bit, fell in a river. And when I woke up this dude had taken me in." He finished, gesturing to the host of the gathering.

"Thank-you for helping our friend out." Zachary smiled to the troll.

"No need to thank me," he bellowed. "As king of the forest, it is my duty to protect all creatures." Sashi nearly spat her drink at the mention of the 'K' word.

"You're the king!?" She asked.

"Why, yes. Have been for almost 300 years now." He laughed, his belly shaking with the sound.

"Listen, we need to talk to you." Penn stood up from his seat, wandering over to speak to the king. "We, uh, heard you had a little fight with some humans over yonder..." Penn began explaining. "And we were- we were just wondering if there was anyway we could change your mind..."

"Change my mind? Why would I do that!? They've done poor to us woodland folk for centuries. Taking our homes and resources. Why _shouldn't_ I chase them out?!" The king crossed his arms, scowling. Under his breath he continued. "It's already bad enough I let _her_ in here." He pointed a finger to Sashi. She easily heard the remark, furrowing her brow and biting her tongue.

"Okay, I know humans are the worst. Lots of experience with them. But there are better ways than just straight up attacking them. The war could easily destroy your home as well." Zachary spoke, standing up from his spot and walking to one of the windows. "They may be thick-skulled and hard to reason with due to feeling entitled to the earth. But, I may be able to talk to them." He folded his fingers together, looking over the village.


	16. Chapter 16: Plan H

"You want me to what?" The king of the human kingdom questioned, looking down at the kneeling duo before him.

"We need you to agree to not expand your kingdom further." Sashi repeated, giving a short summary of the speech Zachary had given.

"And why should I?" The man scowled, growing impatient with those who wanted to stop him from expanding his empire.

"Well, first of all..." Zachary stood up from his bow, taking a few steps forward. "You're working on land that doesn't belong to you. If you keep advancing like this- there won't be any land left for anyone!" The king simply huffed, not caring. So what if he covered all the land? That just made him the winner.

"There are a lot of magical creatures out there, if you keep expanding they'll have no where to go- and you'll be forced to live with them." Sashi joined Zachary by his side. "They won't give up their land very easily, and if you _do_ take their homes, they'll simply move in with you!"

"And trust me, we just spent an hour with the troll king and _oh boy_. I have never heard somebody rip so many consecutive farts..." Zachary added, shuddering as he remembered the stench that the adorable village had given off.

"There won't be any need for that, as my kingdom grows, so will my army. And with the challenge the King of the Forest has issued, I should be able to cut the population of those disgusting woods down quite easily." The man admired and adjusted his white gloves as he spoke. Zachary rolled his eyes, both the teenagers fighting off the urge to deck the dude.

"Listen, sir, with all due respect. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Zachary sighed. The king clenched his fist and grit his teeth at the insult. "I have an idea though, whattya say we go and visit ol' Forest and you two can hug it out, Ey?" Zachary offered. The king thought for a moment, seeming to be weighing his options and the outcomes.

"Fine, I'll do it." He finally spoke. Sashi gave a nudge and a smile to Zachary for his minor success. "But, if I see fit at any moment I shall return and send my armies to do God's work."

* * *

The meeting had been _extremely_ awkward. Neither of the kings spoke. Both of them simply sitting across from each other, seeming to be staring one another down.

The human king, previously introduced himself as Harold, cleared his throat, looking down at the beverage he'd been supplied by Forest's servants. His eyes wandered around the home, taking in the details of the dirt walls.

"I will admit, your home is... humble." He commented, swirling the drink in his cup.

"It's traditional for the king to live on the same level as his subjects, it brings him closer to the people so he can be a better leader." Forest replied, adjusting his position in his seat slightly.

"Well, I've always prefered the alternative, living in an easy-to-see castle. All my subjects can get a clear view of my magnificence, and they'll always know where I am in case they need me. Not to mention it keeps me safe from criminals." Harold admired the rings that adorned his fingers.

"I can see the benefit in that." Forest tapped his fingers. "Do you ever get lonely in a home that large? Do you need that many corridors?" He inquired.

"But of course, the space is useful for any and all events I may host." The reply was short and to the point, the king not wanting to talk of the loneliness he often felt while wandering the empty halls.

"They're talking at least..." Zachary whispered as he pulled his head out of the room, secretly watching the kings converse.

"I'd call that progress." Penn smiled slightly.

The two kings spoke, slowly warming up to one another, sharing experiences and stories of their kingdoms. It had only taken about an hour for them to begin sharing humour, their laughter booming throughout the village. Several of the residents stopping to inquire what was going on. Sashi and Boone had to take on crowd control, leading the hoards of trolls away from the meeting.

"Royal busines. Move along!" Boone would tell those who stopped to look.

Penn hummed in thought.

"Something on your mind?" Zachary questioned, noticing the concern on the redhead's face.

"Is it just me, or have we not seen Rippen yet? Usually he shows up by now..." Penn stated, Zachary nodding, just now realizing the villain's absence. He ran a hand down his face.

"Great, and I thought this was going to be easy." He sighed.

"That was a mistake." Penn laughed, ruffling Zachary's hair slightly, silently enjoying that he was finally the taller one.

Hours more passed, the kings eventually parting ways.

The war had been deemed unnecessary, thew two king's even agreeing they should create an alliance.

* * *

"Don't listen to them." A voice hissed from the woods, the king's guards immediately putting their guard up, the horses they rode all bucking up with worry.

"Who's there?" Harold called to the shadows.

Out of the shadow's wormed Rippen, his legs replaced by a scaly snake tail, and with wings sprouting from between his shoulder blades.

"Don't worry, I don't mean to cause a fuss." Rippen stated, putting his hands up defensively. "I'm simply saying that the King of the Forest will probably turn against you any second." He shrugged. A small owl fluttered out from the trees, landing on one of Rippen's horns.

"Oh, _totally_. He seems like the guy who'll never answer your texts. I had a friend that did that once, it was the **worst**. I'd always text him wanting to talk, but he'd always just reply 'Who are you?' and 'How did you get my number?'" Larry spoke, only gaining and annoyed groan from Rippen, and confused looks from the humans.

"Why should I trust you? I've spoken to Forest myself, and he seems perfectly trustworthy." Harold stated, adgusting his grip on the reigns of his steed.

"He's a _troll_. That was nothing more than an act, trying to play himself off as a gentleman. Next morning you'll wake up and find monsters have invaded your kingdom!" Rippen stated, grinning at the sight of the king shifting uncomfortably, his trust of the troll visually dwindling.

"You may be right..." The king tapped at his chin.

"Sir-" One of the guards started, cut off as Harold raised a hand to stop him.

"You know. You make a good point. There's no way a _beast_ could be trusted." He stopped and eyed Rippen for a moment.

"Hm? Oh, I am no beast, sire. I'm on your side, and wish to protect you." Rippen bowed slightly, Larry doing the same from his perch.

"Sire, we must be on our way." The knight spoke again.

"Yes, yes. Thank-you, good-sir. I'll make sure to get a step ahead of this _troll king_." Acid danced on Harold's tone with the final two words. Rippen grinned, waving and watching the humans ride away. "Perfect. Those heroes will never see this coming~ And neither will the Forest King. Oh, I've got a good feeling about this Larry." Rippen clapped his hands together, slithering into the darkness.

* * *

"Man, this mission is taking forever." Penn stretched and yawned, wondering if Phyllis was even paying attention to them anymore back in the Odyssey.

"Peace-making takes time." Sashi shrugged. "I do wonder why Phyllis hasn't zapped up back yet..." She crossed her arms, concerned. "And we still haven't seen Rippen."

"Or Zachary, where'd he go?" Boone asked, looking around for the wizard who was nowhere to be seen. The group had been traveling together through the village after Harold left. None of them could even tell when the brunette had disappeared.

"I'll go find him." Penn sighed, feeling tired after the long day of work. He bounded off through the market, keeping his eye out for anybody who wasn't wrinkly and plump.

"Dude! Zac!" Penn called, keeping his voice hushed as much as he could as to not wake any sleeping trolls, grabbing the attention of the brunette from atop a mound of dirt. Zachary looked down, rolling onto his stomach and gazing down to the deertaur.

"Yeah?"

"Where have you been?" Penn asked, climbing part way up the pile, his front hooves resting about halfway up. Zachary shrugged.

"I started thinking about how we haven't seen Rippen. I know he'll be here at some point. I... didn't want any distractions so I tried to look for him." Zachary stated, crossing his arms and resting on his elbows.

Penn glanced to the moon, large and mystical above the forest. "Distractions, huh?" He fought off a chuckle.

"Well, it didn't work. I don't have an iron will." Zachary rolled his eyes, reaching down and ruffling Penn's hair between his antlers.

"I hate to interrupt such a romantic moment... but, I've been told you've been looking for me." Rippen slithered out of the woods, Larry following and circling around the gathering. Zachary scrambled for a bit, managing to get to his feet, standing barely six feet away from the part-time villain. Rippen stopped for a moment, obviously shocked to see Zachary alive, fighting off the urge to comment on the situation. He gave his head a small shake to refocus himself. He'd have to save his freak-out and disbelief for a more appropriate time.

"What are you doing here!?" Penn half-shouted from where he stood below the other two.

"Oh, simply running an errand." Rippen hissed, a snake-like tongue darting out between his fangs. Zachary clenched his fists, his palms lighting up with the energy of a spell, only stopping when he heard Penn yelp. Larry had dived down, fluttering and pecking at the hero.

"Pe-" Zachary tried to slide down to assist, but a hand clasped over his mouth, stopping him from speaking. He struggled and kicked as a strong arm hooked around his mid-sectioned, pressing hard against his wound, and dragging him away into the forest, the boy kicking furiously and trying to dig his sharp teeth into the hand that muffled his words. Rippen gave no reaction, trying to stay silent as Larry distracted the hero.

"Aaaand, done." Larry chimed, noticing the disappearance of his boss, flying away with no further remarks to the hero. Penn lowered his arms from protecting himself, quickly fixing his hair, stopping and freezing when he noticed the lack of the two figures on top of the dirt mound.

* * *

"Guys! Guys!" Penn slid to a stop, his hooves digging up earth as he halted next to Boone and Sashi, his breath heavy and quick. "Rippen has Zac."

"Rippen?" Sashi nearly gasped. "So he finally decided to show up, ey?" She punched her palm with her fist, taking on a fierce glare at the thought of the villain.

"Do you know where they went?" Boone asked. "We totally gotta chase them down."

"I didn't see him go, but I'm pretty sure he went the way he came, come on." Penn took off running, leading the other two back to the pile of dirt. He struggled slightly to climb up it, having to have Boone give him a push up the final two feet.

"They must've gone this way." He pointed to the darkened woods prior to tredding carefully into the trees.

* * *

"Believe me sir, it'll only be a matter of time until the other three show up." Rippen murmured to the king.

"Why do they matter to me, again?" Harold questioned, taking a single glance to the bait. Zachary had be tied and gagged, left to sit in the empty courtyard until his friends were tricked into showing up.

"They're the ones that set this whole thing up! It was their idea to lull you into a false sense of security." Rippen stated.

"Yep, I saw it with my own eyes." Larry agreed from his perch on Rippen's horns, his eyes widening to emphasise the statement.

"Well.. -hey! no spell casting!" The king swung his scepter, bashing Zachary over the head with the blunt end of the instrument. The brunette's palms faded, his surprise magic attack failing... again. He tried his best to send a mental message to the forest, hoping Boone would pick it up and alert the trio to stop their rescue mission. The only problem being that Boone had successfully blocked the words of the woods out of his mind, paying no attention to any messages, no matter how hard he tried to channel his words to the boy.

"You know, I bet that the Forest King is well asleep, we should launch the attack now." Rippen insisted. Harold giving him a look with a raised brow.

"Is everyone ready?" Harold asked to the side to one of his guards. "Please, let us go check." He ordered, the knight gave a salute before leading him away to check the status of the armies he'd ordered to be prepared for battle.

"So, how does it feel to be so _helpless_?" Rippen asked with venom in his voice, still feeling bitter about the betrayal in the Dinosaur-Cowboy-World. Zachary simply glared, struggling to escape his bonds, even if he could just flick the part-time villain on the nose it would satisfy him.

"Wow, I can't believe we're gonna win!" Larry chimed, fluffing up happily. "You know, I should _totally_ bake a victory cake when we get home! With sprinkles and-"

"Larry, that's enough. You're making me hungry." Rippen sighed, rubbing his temples. He'd made the mistake of changing his point of focus, as Zachary had managed to find his footing and was now running.

"Wh-Lar... ugh, GUARDS!" Rippen shouted, alerting any nearby knights that their bait was escaping.

Zachary stopped his escaping, jumping and spinning as a ring of light circled around him, cutting the ropes. He landed and bent his knees, ready to fight. After ripping off the gag, he focused his energy into creating a sword, the blade was glowing a baby blue, the hilt taking on a pinkish hue.

Two knights ran into view, wielding their swords out of their sheaths, ready to attack the teenager, who did nothing more but give a two-fingered salute before fleeing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

The sound of horse's hooves rang out against the forest floor, chasing the runaway brunette. He pushed past leaves and branches, his breath ringing louder in his ears than anything around him, the only thing outdoing it was his heartbeat.

The reunion between the heroes and the anti-hero wasn't a picture-perfect happy one, as it was initiated with Zachary running face first into Penn's stomach, then proceeding to slip in the mud, sliding between Penn's legs and stopping behind the group. He didn't pay any attenion to how his robe was coated in mud, simply suggesting they should make their way back to the troll village as quickly as possible.

* * *

"What do you mean he's on his way with an army?!" The Forest King's voice boomed over the four children.

"We mean he's on his way _**right now**_ with a group of people who are likely gonna kickstart a war." Penn summarized yet another speech from Zachary.

"We need to set up defenses A.S.A.P!" Sashi spoke, pulling out her bow and arrow, ready to take lead if she needed to. The king tapped at his chin. His perspective had just been changed, he really didn't want any conflict to occur. Penn could see the indecisiveness on the troll's face, elbowing Zachary lightly as a signal to do something. Zachary jumped slightly, glancing between the redhead and the king quite rapidly for a few seconds before clearing his throat to get the king's attention.

"U-um, listen. I..." Zachary let his words roll from his mouth slowly, buying himself more time before he completely stopped, piecing together possible scenarios in his mind. His eyes lit up. "I have a plan!"

* * *

"Bring us the king!" Rippen shouted to the cowering village as he lead the king and his men out of the woods, the trampling of horse hooves drowning out the sound of the river.

"Shall he prove a coward, we burn the village down!" The king shouted, raising and waving his torch around.

"You want the king!?" Boone's shout calmed the crowd as he stepped out from behind a troll-woman and her baby. "You can have him!"

All attenion fell to the approaching form.

Penn Zero, in all his antlered glory. On his back sat the current wizard of the team, a crown and a cape that were far too big for him covering up most of his form. Penn stopped, catching Rippen's eye and glaring daggers at him, the villain hissed quietly. Zachary slid off of Penn's back, taking slow steps forward, stopping just in front of the king's horse. (He would've gotten closer if it weren't for the spears being crossed to hold him back.)

"We surrender." Zachary stated, crossing his arms and keeping his face straight. He didn't exactly look kingly wearing garments that were at least four sizes too big for him, the mud covering most of his clothing and the smudges of dirt on his cheek were not helping either.

"What? Out of the way, traitor! I want the king!" Harold shouted, raising his voice to a booming holler. "I'll burn down the whole forest if I must do so to find him!" His guards all cheered on the idea.

"This is the king, smart guy." Penn responded, earning a quirked eyebrow from just about everyone within ear-shot. Completely on signal, the (old) Forest King stepped out.

"It is true, I saw myself as unfit for the current events, so I passed on my crown to the most fitting one I could find." He motioned to the brunette, who stood with his shoulders back and his chest out.

"And as king, I surrender. This fight isn't worth it. All of you go home and act as if this never happened." Zachary clapped his hands, taking on what he considering a kingly voice. The lightest trace of a british accent dancing on his words as to make himself seem more important. Rippen took it more as mockery than anything.

"He surrenders! Burn the village down and take it!" Rippen insisted, Larry cheering along to his boss's idea. Harold thought about calling the order, but one look at the Forest king told a million words worth of a story that he truly did not want a fight.

He looked tired, while keeping a determined demeanor, he seemed every so slightly afraid of the power the king had. Forest may have had all the creatures in the woods at his disposal, but he was useless and unprepared at the moment.

Harold sighed.

"Men! Turn and leave!" He shouted to the crowd, Rippen took a double-take at the order.

"What!?" He exclaimed.

"You heard me, we turn back and leave this village as it is. Peaceful." Harold smiled to Forest.

"Oh thank god- heretakethisback." Zachary quickly stripped from the attire, shoving the items back to Forest, who happily announced his role as king again.

"Well, if you're the one in charge. Come to my castle later, we'll talk of a truce." Harold smiled before riding away.

Penn turned to see Rippen fuming, simply sticking out his tongue before the six of them were zapped away to their respective headquarters.

Needless to say, the four heroes immediately passed out upon returning home.


	17. Chapter 17: Talk Like That

"I mean, to be honest. Zombie apocalypses are only fun when you get to actually harm them. It's an incurable disease that re-animates the already dead? Just find a ride-on-lawnmower, and a chainsaw or an axe. You're set and ready to never feel bored again." Zachary commented, him and Sashi speaking about experiences with zombies. She brought up the story on their Brainzburgerz mission, speaking of how exciting the parts she remembered were. Zachary simply yawned at the story, bringing up how much fun the alternative zombies were-the kind that ate people, not fed them. It was assumed he'd just seen a lot of zombie movies and based a theory off of that.

Three weeks had passed since Zachary returned to the public, the magical forest mission doing good to prove his condition was good enough for him to walk. Nobody at the school had commented on the appearance of the boy, the only one even looking at him any differently had been a girl in a red hoodie with big glasses. Upon finding out the boy was alive, Rippen struggled to change the previously great grade that he'd written for the brunette. Only to be reminded that all grades are final, and he had no way of changing it in the school's system on the computers.

Things were actually rather calm, the only difference from before the accident had been Zachary's texting habits.

If he wasn't on missions, he was usually texting. A few times he'd even cut conversations short to check his messages, sometimes he'd ignore the outside world completely as he typed words into the device.

It was concerning at first, worry arising he'd run face first into something, but he seemed oddly aware of his surroundings. The only thing not getting to him inside his bubble was sound. While they had been walking, a rather loud semi-truck had come barreling down the street as Zachary nearly stepped off the curb, Penn had to grip him by the scarf and rip him backwards to avoid certain death.

* * *

"Who are you even talking to?" Penn yawned from his bed, unable to sleep due to the light from the mattress below.

"Friends." Zachary replied simply.

"What friends?" Penn asked, wiggling his blanket off and sitting up.

"... It's a secret." Zachary replied, almost a mumble. Penn rolled his eyes, stopping himself and gasping slightly at an idea.

"Oh my god, dude."

"What?" Zachary replied, slightly irritated.

"You have a girlfriend don't you?" Penn wiggled his eyebrows, earning nothing but an annoyed sigh from the brunette on the floor. "I bet I can guess who it is..." Penn crossed his legs, suddenly feeling like a girl gossiping at a sleepover. "It's Matilda isn't it? I noticed her looking at you- can't say I'm surpr-"

"Dude, shut up. I don't have a girlfriend, okay?" Zachary rubbed his face. Muttering something under his breath about his disinterest in girls when it came to romance.

"Then who are you always talking to?" Penn whined.

"Aren't you nosy?" Zachary chuckled slightly, finally finding a sense of humour inside of himself.

"Come on, all you've been doing is texting since you finished recovering." Penn stated, giving up on asking. He stood up, and sat down next to Zachary, crossing his arms.

"Can I help you?"

"No, just... do your thing, do your thing." Penn insisted, looking around innocently. Zachary raised his eyebrow, seeming unimpressed with the redhead. Penn noticed the look.

"Come oooooon!" He whined once again.

"Fine, can you keep a secret?" Penn's eyes lit up, bright blue filling with excitement as he nodded. "Come closer." Zachary beckoned him with a finger. Penn scooted slightly closer, leaning in to hear the news.

With no warning Zachary hooked an arm around Penn's shoulder, pressing his lips (whole face, really) to Penn's cheek and blowing out, hard, creating vibrations and an almost echoing fart sound. Penn yelped, pushing back and laughing.

"Dude! That's gross!" He wiped his cheek, fake gagging at the feeling of Zachary's spit coating his cheek.

"Your fault, bro." Zachary snickered, elbowing him in the shoulder.

"What if I told you something?" Penn offered, feeling a smirk rise when he noticed Zachary react ever-so-slightly to the statement.

"What are you offering here, Zero?" Zachary spoke, raising his brows.

Penn climbed up onto his bed, digging through the sheets to find it. His MUHU. Without invitation, Zachary climbed up as well, sitting across from where Penn settled himself.

For whatever reason, Zachary had still not learned of Penn's parents. The brunette never even bothered questioning Aunt Rose and uncle Chuck raising the boy, always thinking it was a sensitive subject for the redhead. Penn tossed his MUHU back and forth between his hands for a second, taking a deep breath.

"My parents... are kind of trapped in the most dangerous world imaginable." He confessed, getting straight to the point. "They have been for a long time..." He felt the sadness weighing his voice down. "We have no idea how to get them back, or even where they are. We just know it's super dangerous."

"I... I'm sorry to hear that, Penn." Zachary raised his hand, resting it on Penn's shoulder as a sort of comfort. His lips stayed in a flat line for a moment, before he took a deep breath and confessed.

"I'm talking to friends of mine, outside of this dimension. Ones from... back home." He shrugged, the confession not sounding entirely fantastic. "Here." He passed his phone to Penn, unlocked and open to a current conversation.

It just looked like a normal conversation between two teenagers, full of emojis and abbreviations. Even a few instances of auto-correct butting in where it was not needed.

The contact was listed as 'X3RO' the symbols not making much sense to Penn. His face obviously showed it as Zachary spoke up.

"It's pronounced like your last name. Like 'zero'." He commented. "The story behind it is... kind of long- I don't think she'd like me sharing it." Penn nodded, looking back down to the screen. Zachary reached over, taking the phone back. "So that's my secret." He shrugged. "I've been talking to my closest friends, dimensions away. We started talking more frequently because they were worried I'd end up dead after hearing about the 'Cats versus Dogs' incident."

Penn hummed for a moment, growing more and more curious about Zachary's past.

"If... you don't mind me asking... when you first showed up here... you came out of a portal? What's the deal with that? and Why do you have that transporter?" He had to stop himself from letting a million questions go at once.

"Well..." Zachary started, taking a deep breath. "I actually used to live a life kind of similar to yours. I led a team... we traveled between dimensions all the time to help people out when they called us. Only, we didn't replace fallen heroes, we just sort of showed up and looked for whoever needed help. But, recently... we'd been set out on a mission, something really big. We were supposed to be looking for objects that were cursed, the more of them that existed, the stronger this bad guy would be. But... we got seperated, a lot. I would sometimes head out on my own, leaving my other two team members to work together." Zachary sighed, taking a single second long break from his story. "When I came here, we were meant to be working together in a different dimension, but my transporter malfunctioned, luckily for the safety mechanism, it didn't leave me floating in nothing-ness. It dropped me off in the first dimension it could connect to- that place being here." He finished, pointing downwards to Penn's bed, signaling to the dimension they sat in.

"No way..." Penn gaped. "So, you were like a part-time hero before you even got here?" Penn inquired.

"No, it was a full time thing. I originally had a job taking care of magical and mystical pests around town, but we got in trouble for that, so we took our business across the multiverse." He shrugged.

"Man..." Penn sighed, taking in all that information at two in the morning was not his wisest idea.

"You wanna know something else" Zachary lowered his voice. Penn nodded, not daring to lean in, fearing he'd have his face licked.

"I know magic." He stated simply, Penn gave no reaction.

"Magic? Like card tricks?" The redhead chuckled a bit.

"No, I mean like exorcism and seals to fight off demons and stuff! I know a bit of alchemy, but I'm still working on some of the bugs." He scratched at the back of his head, remembering a few (horrid) mistakes he'd made.

"Yeah... right..." Penn rested his cheek in his hand, not entirely buying the story.

"How can you not believe me!" Zachary's face flushed slightly. "You were a deertaur a few weeks ago- and this is the thing you don't believe?" Zachary crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow and scowling slightly.

"You make a good point. But, how come I never see you doing any magic?"

"I don't think a lot of people would take kindly to me chanting and making things happen with no reason, I just kind of kept it a secret from you guys, I thought... maybe you'd freak out..." Zachary scratched the back of his neck.

"Dude, like you said. I was a deer a few weeks ago, I think I can handle a bit of magic." Penn reassured his friend.

They did chat for a little while after that, the both of them blacking out around 4 AM, huddled into Penn's tiny bed.


	18. Chapter 18: I'm More Of A Cat Person

**i apologize for some of the chapters being super long! thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing! it means the world to me~**

 **also, a quick warning. school starts up on tuesday for me, and i'm not sure how stressful grade 11 is gonna be. so idk. i have like 40 chapters written up- so expect updates, and it'll be likely i'll finish this before i run out of queued chapters. i guess if anything this is a warning that i might not start anything new. i do have some ideas for some new stories! one pzpth one, and then two slugterra ones, but expect delays on those.**

* * *

Penn was alone, the room was all white. Rather small as well. One of the surrounding walls was completely covered with small cages-likely used to hold animals. He was also accompanied by a table, and a filing cabinet. The cabinet sitting next to the door to exit the room.

He searched through the room for details. The only thing he'd found was a clipboard on the table, and a keycard clipped to the board under some sheets of paper.

With careful thought, he figured out he must've been some sort of scientist. The white labcoat giving it away. There was also the possibility he could've been a doctor...

As he played with a stethoscope around his neck, a knock broke him from his fidgeting.

"Paging doctor Zero." A voice came through the door before a face did. Zachary stepped in, wearing similar attire to Penn. The only difference being he had thick-rimmed glasses on with the lenses popped out. He was obviously having fun playing dress-up as a doctor.

"You seen Sashi or Boone yet?" Penn questioned, leaning back on the table. "I'm _really_ hoping I don't have to operate on either of them." He shuddered, feeling faint as memories of the incident where he almost died flooded into his mind. He could still feel a stinging sensation in his stomach at any mention of deadly illnesses, never forgetting Boone's piloting skills inside of his gut.

"Not yet..." Zachary answered, clicking a pen and scribbling on the paper on his clipboard. Penn tried to lean forward to view what he was writing, only to have the brunette pull the board to his chest to cover it.

"Oh thank god you two are in here!" Sashi stormed in, a panting Boone following her. "We've been running around in circles trying to find you!"

"So... so many stairs..." Boone wheezed, latching a hand on the filing cabinet to let his weight rest on it so he could catch his breath.

"Okay, Sash. Check the specs." Penn spoke. Barely giving the other two a chance to catch their breath.

"We're four scientists- veterinarians..." she corrected herself. "and we need to concoct a cure for a disease that is spreading through the hospital."

"Alright, easy enough." Penn crossed his arms, nodding slightly.

"Along with that, we need to find a snake that got loose recently. Its bite is what's causing the disease- apparently it swallowed a radioactive meteorite shard- and we have to try and get it to cought it up, while doing our best not to get bitten." She finished, quietly catching her breath.

"... That might make things a bit more complicated." Penn rubbed his chin, trying to think up a plan.

Penn and Sashi began plotting, trying to assign certain people to certain parts, trying to split the mission into two halves. Boone eventually caught his breath, offering his own advice. Zachary had taken to doodling again, occassionally looking up to glance at his model- Penn. They were just messy sketches, trying to catch the boy's positions and poses.

He let his pen come to a rest for just a moment, enough time for a sound to ring in his ears- nearly making his heart stop. With no words he jumped up onto the table, the sound startling the rest of the team out of their planning.

They all followed Zachary's gaze, his terrified eyes locked to the floor.

Boone screamed, the three of them all jumping in different directions to avoid the subject of terror.

A snake with a glowing blue mouth, obviously the creature they needed to watch out for.

Sashi had somehow managed to curl her body up enough to fit on top of the cabinet, knocking off the decorative plant in the process of her hiding. It had taken Penn a few hops, but he managed to join Zachary on the table.

Boone was left without a place to hide, he screamed again, covering his face as the snake reared up and cornered him against the wall of cages.

At it's full height, it could easily reach the wiseman's chest. With jaws wide, it lunged, gaining another scream from the boy.

Luckily, fangs never met skin.

Just as the creature sprung forward, Zachary managed to lean over and swing his clipboard as hard as he could, bashing the beast in the face and sending it flying into the closed door.

Silence fell, Sashi slowly climbing down to check the unconscious beast.

"Do you think that's...?" Penn started, pointing to the snake.

"Rippen? Most likely." Sashi nodded, prodding the snake with her foot. "Do we have any tongs?" Urgency rang slightly on her voice, not wanting to wait for the snake to awaken and go for round two. Without a word, Zachary passed his clipboard to Penn, taking one for the team and grasping the snake behind the head, using his other hand to grab the tail. Sashi led him out of the room, off to find a cage to keep the creature contained.

That left Penn and Boone, and a clipboard dripping with venom and probably a bit of blood.

The snake had left a splatter on the board, the liquid seeming to glow blue. Penn guessed it was venom- and by the sound of the impact, blood must've been mixed in as well. He wouldn't be surprised to find that Zachary had straight up killed snake-Rippen.

"Can I see that for a sec?" Boone asked, carefully taking the board and examining the back where the splatter was. As he looked it over, mostly marveling at how cool it looked, Penn got his chance to see the doodles. He unclipped the page, working to not disturb his friend.

It was only one page, but it looked to be packed full of doodles, closer examination proved that they were doodles of him, various different poses, all featuring his current attire. He wasn't sure- should he feel flattered or freaked out? Either way his cheeks flushed a bit... the drawings were very nice, seeming to highlight all his positive points and features.

"What's that?" Boone suddenly asked, startling Penn, who jumped slightly and crumpled the paper in his fist to hide it.

"Nothing, just a blank sheet." Penn cleared his voice, flattening out the page when Boone turned away, making sure to fold it nicely and tuck it into his pocket.

"You two coming?" Sashi poked her head into the room. "We found an old and empty fish tank to keep Rippen in. Zachary's poking him with a stick right now... it's pretty funny." She admitted, leading the two boys to where their other companion awaited.

* * *

They were led out of the room, into a hallway that ran past the front office. Peeking into the small windows of the rooms wasn't advised, as they were all filled with sickly looking people. Penn stopped in front of one room, his fingers touched the door- it was freezing, the people inside looking even colder. Sashi tugged his sleeve, pulling him along further.

"Look at this." Boone pointed to a whiteboard, which held large letters written in bright colours.

"WARNING: VICTIMS OF BITE MUST BE KEPT COLD."

and written underneath:

"We are working to purify blood, we are unsure if we can cure infected flesh. While the venom may flow through the veins, the cold keeps it from causing further infection. Limbs may be amputated in the event that we can't cleanse flesh."

"Good to know..." Penn commented before being led on further. He let his eyes wander for a moment, falling to one of the many rooms. Risking a look through the small window of the door, he saw two people huddled in the tiny room. A man and a woman, both looked to be shivering. He noticed the woman had her sleeves rolled up. On one arm there were two dark spots, likely puncture wounds. Spreading out from the wounds were blue veins that seemed to slither in a lightning pattern up her arm and even her neck ever so slightly. The skin around the bitemark was a dark and bruise-like purple.

* * *

They came to a room, much like the one before. The only difference being there were no cages in the room, just an old fish tank on the table, and a kennel discarded to the side. There was a strange machine as well.

In the tank, was a very angry snake. Rippen hissed and bit angrily and the stick that Zachary kept poking into the aquarium, the boy laughing slightly with every miss the snake took.

Sashi opened the door, the squeaking of the hinges breaking the boy from his distraction. He replaced the top of the tank and greeted the rest of the team with a slight nod.

"Alright, we've caught Rippen, now to work on that cure." At speaking the villain's name, Penn rapped his knuckle against the tank a few times, the large snake curling up in the limited space and hissing at the sound.

"We found this machine, apparently it, like... I don't know. Scans compounds or whatever. I was looking at it while you three were out, I think if we put some of the venom in this," he pointed to a tab that stuck out slightly, looking not too different from a blood test strip. "and then we dump chemicals and shit into this side and it'll let us know if we've made the cure or not." He pointed to the other side of the machine, a funnel shape sitting on the top. On the front of the machine there were two screens. Both of them reading: "AWAITING INPUT" in a blocky font.

"How are we supposed to get a venom sample? It's not like he's just gonna give it to us if we ask." Boone commented, crossing his arms.

Penn tapped at his chin, thoughtful for a moment before remembering with a snap of his fingers.

"The clipboard!" With the shout he grabbed the board from Boone, the center of the blue splatter still looked to be moist. He took one of the cotton swabs sitting in a nearby cup, dabbing it into the venom. After scraping the liquid off of the swab and onto the strip, the screen on the right of the machine lit up, a circle spinning- much like a loading icon on a computer. It beeped, the right screen flashing for a moment, still reading "AWAITING INPUT" in the previous blocky font.

"Alright! Let's get to throwing stuff in!" Sashi pounded a fist into her palm with a determined glare, then turning and grabbing two viles that were resting nearby the machine and proceeding to dump them into the funnel.

The four teenagers waited for a moment, all jumping at the sound of a loud and deep buzzer. The screen on the right flashed red, a black ' **X** ' in the center. After a few seconds it returned to the previous "AWAITING INPUT". Penn sighed, scratching on his cheek.

"This might take awhile."

The team continued trying, throwing random chemicals they found into the machine. Each time they were met with the same error sound, they'd eventually stopped flinching at the loud noise, instead simply sighing or grumbling in annoyance.

Zachary had been put on snake duty, meaning he had to stay and make sure Rippen didn't escape, this often left him in the room by himself. Luckily, he'd found another clipboard, some paper and a pen, so he could continue doodling. Every few minutes he'd look up from his work to glance at Rippen, who just seemed to be pouting at this point.

"Dude, can you help me with something?" Boone had peeked in for a second, calling for Zachary's assistance in moving a large box of beakers and glasses he'd found, each of them holding some sort of elixer.

The boy placed the clipboard on top of the fish tank before following, almost as if it'd weigh the top down in the event that Rippen tried to force his way out.

Nobody was in the room to keep an eye on the snake, meaning nobody noticed the small, round, brown cat slip into the room. Larry jumped up onto the table, purring a greeting to his boss. Rippen simply hissed in reply as a way to tell his minion to hurry it along. Larry pushed his weight against the tank, pushing it off the table- the glass shattered, freeing Rippen with only a few injuries from the fall.

Penn raced to the room, soon followed by Boone and Zachary who had left their box in the middle of the hallway. All they came to was an empty table top, glass shattered all over the floor. Penn took careful steps in to observe the scene, Boone and Zachary choosing to stay outside to watch the hero work. The anti-hero had taken to clenching Boone's sleeve in his fist as a fear instinct to glass.

"How did he get out?" The redhead finally questioned, mostly asking himself as he dropped into a squat and picked up pieces of glass, turning them over in his hand. Boone gave a thoughtful hum while Zachary took a deep breath and tip-toed into the the room, attempting to keep his feet away from the shards.

"There are paw-prints on the table..." He pointed out, noticing several muddy markings on the table top.

"You think it was Larry?" Boone finally joined the investigation in the room, just as Sashi arrived holding two more viles.

"What happened? I heard a crash." She asked, walking in and not paying much attention to the crunching under her feet.

"Rippen escaped, we're pretty sure Larry helped him." Penn stated, standing up with several cracks in his knees. "Sashi, Boone, you two go find Rippen, me and Zac'll keep working on a cure." The two of them gave quick nods before running out to find the beast.

Everyone set to work immediately, Boone and Sashi searching every corner of the building for Rippen, Zachary and Penn setting back to work with finding the cure, adding more and more random chemicals to the machine.

They didn't keep track of time, spending the minutes throwing things into the funnel, then proceeding to wait for any sign they were doing something right, only ever being met with the same error sound over, and over, and over again.

Penn had taken a quick break, leaning with his hands pressed against the table, trying to think of _what they were doing wrong._ Were they mixing together a bunch of poisons to make a toxin worse than the venom? Would the cure work better if they added common ingedients from the kitchen? Would sugar and cream make it work? As he thought about adding more basic compounds to the machine, he felt his mouth start to water, a craving for cake boiling in his system. He wasn't paying any attention to Zachary, who had taken to frustratingly whacking his head against the machine. If it weren't for the single second intervals between the strikes of foreheard-to-metal, he wouldn't of heard the hissing.

Rippen was too focused on Penn, wanting to strike before the boy turned around that he hadn't noticed the other boy turn around, eyes gaping in panic. The snake reared back, opening his jaws to strike at the boy's back.

He lunged.

Penn jumped, spinning around at the sound of heavy steps and stumbling.

Zachary made a strangled sort of sound, proceeding to turn with Rippen in hand, gripping the snake behind the head to limit his movement. Rippen did his best to thrash in the grip, only managing to wrap around Zachary's arm, applying pressure with the muscles that lined his body.

Without any thoughts or words, Zachary pried Rippen off his arm and forced the snake into the kennel that sat on the floor. With a single movement he tilted the cage onto its back- so the door was facing upwards- then proceeded to place a book on top of it so he wouldn't be able to slither through the bars. There were holes on the side, but it was not likely way Rippen could slide through those.

"That... that was a close one." Penn felt his heartbeat running a million miles a second. "Thanks for saving my bacon." He gave the brunette a firm pat on the shoulder, not reacting when Zachary flinched at the sudden contact. Instead of replying to Penn's gratitude, he ran his hands over his face, wiping away sweat from his cheeks. The temperature of the room only seemed to increase with the stress of the situation. "We should find Boone and Sashi and let them know we have Rippen." Penn made his way for the door, Zachary following without a word.

* * *

"Boone? Sash!" Penn called, getting nothing but echoes as a reply. He ran down the hall, not waiting for Zachary to catch up. The redhead bolted by locked doors, all filled with patients suffering from the bites-the very people that used to work at the facility.

"Penn!" Boone shouted back once he had the redhead in his sights.

"Where's Sashi?" Penn questioned, worry dancing slightly on his voice, the absence of the girl concerning him.

"She got bit awhile ago, I left her in one of those cold rooms and came to get you guys." Boone's voice stayed quiet. "I don't think she's gotten sick yet, but she's definitely not herself."

"Oh man... alright. Boone, you go and keep an eye on Sashi, let us know if anything gets worse. Me and Zac will continue working on the antidote." With Penn's final words Zachary finally caught up, greeted by an arm being slung over his shoulders.

"You might want to hurry, I'm not sure how long I can keep her sitting still." Boone gave a nod and commented before returning to the locked room.

"Looks like we have our first test subject." Penn patted Zachary on the chest, giving a brief summary of what he missed in the previous conversation.

They made their way back quickly, returning to their work. The only difference being that Penn had stopped by the staff room and picked up a couple of packets of cream and sugar, along with various other common ingredients from the kitchen. It wouldn't hurt to try them.

* * *

"STOP. BEEPING. AT. US!" With each word Penn let his forehead knock into the machine as it gave out another buzz for incorrect ingredients. He'd gotten so frustrated he'd practically just thrown everything in together, ignoring Zachary leaning against the table. "You have any bright ideas-" He turned to ask, stopping at the sight of the pale boy wavering, blue marks trailed up in neck, just barely coming to his jaw.

Zachary noticed the staring only when Penn began walking towards him, he slapped his hand over his neck to hide the injuries. "I-I'm fine." His voice shook, his words almost slurring.

Penn didn't respond, not wanting to argue, he instead took hold of Zachary's hand and pried it from where it rested, revealing the purpled-flesh and blue veins that trailed his skin.

"You..." The word trailed off as he took a longer look at Zachary, noticing two puncture wounds in his sleeve. He pulled up the white material, opening the sight of the boy's snake bite wound to the world. "You got bit!?" Penn exclaimed, worry carrying in the tone of his voice. "Why didn't you say anything- it's like zombie movie rule numer one, 'Never keep a bite a secret'!"

"I didn't want you to worry!" Zachary stood up slightly, trying to take on his full height to gain the upperhand in the conversation, but his head spun, and he stumbled back down, half supporting himself on the table, the rest of his weight being held up by Penn. The redhead ran his fingers into his own hair, pulling slightly and groaning.

"If you told me we could've put you somewhere cold so you wouldn't get worse!"

"I want to help!" Zachary argued back, only making eye contact briefly before choosing to aim his sights at the floor.

"I'd rather you be safe than be dead trying to help me!" Penn had to force himself not to yell, not wanting to stress out the anti-hero anymore. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "Come on, we can still get you to quarentine, you and Sashi can keep an eye on each other- me and Boone'll work on the cure."

"I told you I'm-" Zachary put a hand up to protest. His face paled dramatically, the previously lifted hand flew to Penn's shoulder with an iron grip. Zachary doubled over, taking a step back from Penn ever so slightly to avoid vomiting on his shoes.

Penn could only watch in horror, the liquid coming from the boy's mouth was nothing but a mixture of stomach bile and blood.

Zachary came back up, ran his arm across his mouth prior to slurring out the words. "See? Perfectly fine. S'all outta my system." It was easy to tell his eyes had trouble focusing. "Are there... three of you?" Were Zachary's final words before blacking out.

* * *

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Zachary felt the world coming into view, a mash of blurs and colours, the feeling of something colliding with his cheek over and over again. "I see your eyes opening! You better keep them that way before I rip them out and shove them into your nostrils!" The voice hissed, the blur closest to him then came into view.

Sashi cradled Zac's head in her lap, she seemed perfectly healthy.

"Weren't you...?" Zachary started, still struggling to see straight.

"We finished the mission, don't worry about it." Attention was drawn to the space beside the boy, a mess of redhair coming into view.

"...Penn...? What the hell happened? I feel... like death." Zachary growned, throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the lights, then proceeding to roll off of Sashi's lap to land face first on the floor. He gagged slightly, still feeling the slightest need to vomit, a burning in his throat from his previous sickness.

"Well, in a way you were legally dead for about twenty minutes." Penn commented, his voice giving away discomfort. Zachary simply groaned.

"On the plus-side, we won the mission!" Boone tried to lighten the mood, earning nothing but another groan from the fallen teenager.

"Don't beat yourself up. We all make mistakes." Sashi tried to offer, awkwardly patting the back of Zachary's head.

The brunette sighed, lifting himself up and rolling over into a sitting position.

"I know that- but... I feel like I must've risked the whole mission." He grumbled, his memory coming back in bits and pieces, his thigh mysteriously stinging, like a needle had struck him.

"Well, actually, the only thing you risked was your life. But, on the plus-side I had an immediate test subject!" Penn did his best to turn negatives into positives, not even earning eye-contact from the brunette. Zachary only rolled his eyes, bringing his knees up to his chest and hiding his face.

"Penn's right! Don't let one mistake get you down! Heck, this guy destroyed an entire planet once and still kept his head up!" Boone chimed in with a pat to Penn's shoulder, trying to work the message through to the brunette. Penn did open his mouth slightly to defend himself, instead nodding along, as Boone was completely correct.

"You successfully finish mission, that is all that matters." Phyllis spoke from the balcony, leaning back in a chair slightly as she took a long sip from her coffee.

Before letting anyone else speak, Zachary let out a sigh, standing up and walking out with his head down.

Boone and Sashi both began to step forward to chase the brunette, Penn's hand stopping them both.

"I'll... talk to him tonight, you two head on home." He spoke, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, following the brunette out the door and catching him partway down the street under a streetlamp.

"Dude, come on." Penn tried to reason, only to have the boy shake his hand off his arm.

"You don't get it." Zachary hissed, his eyes growing slightly glassy.

"I do, I've made plenty of mistakes, and believe me, I know why you're so ups-"

"No! You don't understand! I'm supposed to lead a team- I'm supposed to be some magical wizard who saves the multiverse and protects people. I... I can't risk messing up- I don't get the chance to fix my mistakes like you do!" He turned to Penn, a single tear escaping and rolling down his cheek. "If I... If I screw up, I can't just... _call_ someone in to fix it for me. I don't have backup. If I fail, it's not just a zap-out and lecture- it's death, Penn. I've... I've seen people die because of my idiocy... b-because I'm a failure who can't even speak up when I screw up and ruin everything." He opened his mouth to continue, looking for a moment like he couldn't grasp the words he wanted. His head dropped, his shoulders shook, and he choked back a sob. He didn't fight when Penn placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You _didn't_ ruin everything..." Penn started. "If it weren't for you, I'm sure a lot of our missions would probably fail! You can't let one little mistake get you down, you just have to... look past it! Find a way to make things work for you! Don't let yourself fail, you don't want people calling you 'Zachary One', do you?" Penn questioned, a slight smirk sliding to his lips as he attempted to add humour to the comfort. It seemed to work, as he earned a single snicker from Zachary.

"Is that what they call you when you screw up?" He finally looked up, eyes still glassy and red. "Penn One?" Penn felt himself nearly shudder at the name.

"That's not the point! What I'm trying to say, is that we won. Who cares if you made a mistake! Being in a team isn't about personal records- it's about working together." Penn finished his speech with the cheesiest line he could think of, actually earning an eyeroll from Zachary. A small smirk following the action.

"Okay, enough of the weird speeches." He gave Penn a playful push to the shoulder. "This gets anymore emotional and motivational I'll feel like I'm straight out of some crappy movie. All we need is a bit of rain and a dramatic kiss, but honey, I don't neck on a first date." He laughed, tucking his hands into his pockets and continued walking, letting Penn catch up.

"Glad to see you feeling better." The redhead laughed, finally catching up. Silence fell as they walked. Penn's mind wandered, thinking back to the drawings. "So... you're an artist?" He started off, feeling extremely awkward and shifting under the curious gaze of the other.

"Uh... yeah. What was your first clue? The fact I'm constantly drawing in class, or that I never sleep?" Zachary joked, letting a smirk creep to his lips.

"Oh, I was just... kind of curious. I saw you drawing today and... they were pretty good drawings." Penn felt his cheeks heat up slightly, hoping the shade of the night would hide it.

"Hm?" Zachary tilted his head. "Oh! Those?"

"The ones from today? Yep. I... uh... you made me look pretty good." Penn stated, still not sure how he felt about being a model.

"Thanks, I needed to work on my life drawing and speed, and I figured you were the best looking model in the room- plus Sashi would probably strangle me if she caught me." Zachary stated, giving a slight shrug, acting extremely casual in contrast to Penn's discomfort.

"Right. Right..." The redhead cleared his throat.

"I made you uncomfortable. Didn't I?" Zachary finally sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd see them. If you want me to stop I can totally find a new model."

"No! No, it's alright. Just... give me a little warning." Penn laughed. "Let me come up with a few poses to casually strike throughout the day." With the sentence he struck a heroic pose, flexing one arm and pointing the other straight out. Zachary laughed and rolled his eyes, walking further on, Penn quickly catching up.


	19. Chapter 19: Sick for Me

"There, there. Let it all out." Zachary's words were almost completely drowned out by the sound of Penn's vomiting. One of Zac's hands were knotted into Penn's hair, holding his bangs back to ensure they'd stay clean, the other hand occupied with rubbing soothing circles into Penn's back. He kept his gaze aimed away from the scene, flinching every time he heard Penn gag, his ears met with the sound of the boy spewing a mess into the toilet bowl.

It really wasn't any surprise that he'd gotten sick, the previous day the boy had been so weak he'd barely made it through the school day without passing out. Even on the mission Zachary had to drag him to safety, leaving Sashi to finish what they started.

Needless to say, Penn did not attend school that day, and he did not join the team at the Odyssey.

"Penn is sick, he will need replacement." Phyllis greeted the trio at the door of the theatre.

"I nominate Sashi." Zachary spoke immediately, Boone happily agreed, Sashi herself gave no argument. It seemed to make the most sense, her being the sidekick and all.

"No. Last time you work without Penn, it was disaster." Phyllis pointed to Sashi. "Same with you." A glance sent towards Boone, who looked like he was about to defend himself, but simply nodded instead. "You will take over today." She jabbed a finger towards Zachary, breaking the boy from his fidgeting. He immediately stopped rubbing his thumbs into his scarf, switching to gripping the blue fabric in his fists.

"W-what..." He stuttered, his face seeming to pale, his body shaking slightly. Sashi actually had to catch him slightly, as his knees buckled and his body seemed to threaten to collapse.

"You will be hero today." Phyllis left no room for protest, making her way up the ladder to the balcony. "Now take places."

Zachary made no movement, not reacting to Sashi and Boone both shrugging and making their way down. Sashi stopped for a moment, backing up a few steps and giving Zachary a tap on the shoulder. He jumped and turned around, looking like a deer in headlights.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll do fine." She tried to reassure, taking the boy's hand and leading him down to the platform when he didn't react.

The three circles lit up, the brunette standing in the middle and looking, quite obviously, uncomfortable. He figeted and squirmed, looking down to where he stood.

"Lucky for you, today's mission should be easy." Phyllis added in a final note before sending them off.

When they arrived, Zachary quickly began checking over his body. Making sure everything was working correctly... it seemed to be okay.

He recognized the attire slightly, he'd seen it before on Penn. The day they first met, when Zachary destroyed the amulet.

"Um... okay..." He scratched at his hand nervously, beginning to walk forward slowly as he admired the area.

He was a knight, aimlessly wandering down a dark, long hallway. Paintings of kings and queens watching his every move. Paranoia and anxiety made no hesitation to kick in, the rain pattering down on the castle windows was the only thing distracting him from the silence.

He kept his arms wrapped around himself, hugging his arms tightly for security, making himself seem as small as possible, as if he was trying to pass under the sight of the paintings.

"This isn't for me- this isn't for me at all..." He jammed his palms to his eyes, rubbing thoroughly to try and distract himself from an anxiety attack, as well as drying tears. When he removed his hands, colours danced in his vision, completely blocking him from seeing anything.

His vision cleared, the boy finding himself facing a painting. The man was old, his face was weighed down with age, a sea of wrinkles taking over his complexion. A permanent look of disapproval and disgust stood firmly on his features.

Zachary took a deep breath, wringing his hands together in front of himself. Using both of these as a calming action, his heart beat rang loudly in his ears, like a drum set inside his skull.

"I don't... know what to do. I should be able to lead perfectly fine! But... I've seen the three of them work, they all... work together so well. They talk! They depend on each other! With Penn out of commission, Boone and Sash need my guidance-and I can't even give it. I'm not sure what they're capable of... I'm used to reading people's body language, I can barely form a simple sentence around even my closest friends- there's no way I can build a mental connection with Boone and Sashi like I had with the other two..." He rubbed at his arm as he thought of his old team, a breeze flowing through the hall, gently roughling his hair and causing the flames of nearby candles to dance. The light and shadows all shifting in sync.

His eyes slid back up to the painting, as if a simple picture was some wise old man that would show him the way. Maybe if he stared long enough, occassionally wiping tears of worry away from his vision, he'd be given a sign. Maybe the sun would come out and a light from the window would show him the way- maybe all except for one candle would blow out, the remaining light guiding him somewhere.

But waiting and wishing was useless, he needed to control his anxiety. He'd make it through the mission on the verge of a full-blown panic attack- but he'd do his damned best to lead. If luck was on his side he'd distract himself from his struggle to breathe and the never ending echo of his own heartbeat.

The sound of footsteps and doors closing in the distance caused his heart to leap into his throat, a single rush of terror shaking his body. He'd completely forgotten he was alone, he really hoped nobody had heard him ranting to a painting about his problems.

* * *

"Stay calm, sir, we're going to make sure you get better." Sashi tried to make her voice sound soft, but making sure her words would make it through to nearly deaf ears. Her thumb traced circles on the king's hand, she'd done this a few times when she was forced to take care of the elderly in the old folk's home. It usually seemed to work, and it seemed to be doing good now. The king smiled weakly, before coughing violently. Boone immediately reacted by dabbing at the king's forehead with a wet cloth to keep him cool and clean, when the king settled and let out a few deep breaths, Boone and Sashi released the air they didn't know they were holding- both fearing he might _literally_ cough up a lung.

"Thank-you two... so much..." He wheezed, his voice hoarse and full of gratitude.

"It's no problem dude, we got your back." Boone reassured, giving a few more pats of the cloth to his head, before setting the bowl down to the side.

"You... you two take a break now, bring in Viceroy to keep me company." He smiled weakly, taking his shaking hand away from Sashi to wave the two teenagers away.

Outside the door, Boone immediately switched from being gentle, to letting panic shine through.

"There is no way this guy is even gonna live through the night! He'll probably die before Rippen even shows up!" The bells on his jester hat jingled with every movement.

"You're probably right- we have some time off now though. We need to find Zachary- and take him to deal with Rippen before we get called back in to deal with Gramps." Sashi nodded, leading the way by breaking into a jog down the halls of the castle, her armour making each movement known to anyone around via the sound of metal against metal.

Boone had fallen behind the girl a little bit, taking to opening doors and glancing into them to check for the brunette.

With one particular door, he opened it, taking a single glance- but processing what he'd seen just as he tried to close it. Zachary was standing just a few feet away from him, talking to a painting.

"-oone and Sash need my guidance-and I can't even give it. I'm not sure what they're capable of... I'm used to reading people's body language, I can barely form a simple sentence around even my closest friends..." He listened to Zachary rant his insecurities. He watched him move, rubbing his arm, bringing a hand to his eyes- the guy was crying. Boone had no clue what to do. Comfort the boy and risk making things worse? Or pretend he'd never seen anything and spend the whole mission having to watch what he says?

He closed the door, realizing he'd lost sight (and sound) of Sashi, having no way to tell where the girl had gone to. He ran, the sound of his flip-flops smacking into his heels echoing slightly down the fancy halls.

"Did you find anything?" She asked, closing a door far down the hall just as she saw Boone approaching her.

"Uh... yeah! I found Zachary just hanging out on his own. You know, totally chill." Boone didn't want to spread news of the boy's anxiety.

"Well, let's go then! Who knows how close Rippen is to winning. Lead the way!" The two of them hurried back down the hall at Sashi's command.

* * *

" ** _Ah_**!" Zachary half screamed- half gasped, the sound coming out as a panicked yelped that caused Sashi to flinch with the high pitch. He cleared his throat, playing it off as if he wasn't a total wimp.

"Okay- uh. Mission, go." He pointed to Sashi, not bothering with the catchphrase.

"We are the king's guards and his jester, we're the only ones who know about the evil wizard and his plan to take over the kingdom. If we don't hurry and stop Rippen- he'll poison the king. Easily killing him and taking over with his highness in such poor condition." Sashi finished, removing her finger from her specs.

"Oh! Great!" Zachary rubbed at the bridge of his nose, lowering his voice to a grumble. "The _one_ mission I take over- and if I fuck up the guy dies. Great. Just perfect." Sashi and Boone watched the boy stress, he took a light kick to a nearby pedestal which held a marble bust. The statue shook slightly, Zachary's eyes locking onto to it, ensuring he could catch it if it did fall. It steadied, and the boy continued on walking. Sashi and Boone following wordlessly.

* * *

"Larry! Hand me the stinging nettle!" Rippen called over his shoulder, keeping his eyes locked on the bubbling cauldron.

"You know..." Larry started, handing the plant to Rippen's gloved hand. "this potion of yours could use some spicing! I'm sure some mint-oh! I bet a bit of raspberry would do wonders!"

"Larry... this is poison. We aren't going to risk it not working so we can make is taste good. He'll be _dead_ , I doubt he'll even taste it!" Rippen groaned, flipping through the pages of the recipe. "Now then, all we need is a drop of mage's blood. Easy enough." He plucked at the fingers of his glove to remove it, ignoring Larry's rant about giving the king a 'pleasant death'. His eyes ran over the page's text as he pulled out a blade, holding it to the side of his hand.

He hissed slightly, the metal cutting through his skin with ease. The crimson liquid gathered outside the cut, the weight of itself eventually pulling down to gravity- a droplet falling and creating ripples upon contact with the potion. The bubbling stopped, the liquid instantly thickening and simply rippling on the heat.

"Perfect~" Rippen chimed, spooning his creation into a vile. "Larry, find us a ride. We have a gift for the dear-king." He let a laugh slip out, low and evil.

* * *

"Alright. Boone- you keep guard outside the king's door. Make sure you don't let anybody in unless the king requests them, and if you hear anything weird going on in there, call us immediately." The three of them huddled, Sashi speaking the plan to them.

"Right-e-o. You guys can count on me." Boone gave a salute before taking his leave, running back to the king's room to offer support and entertainment.

"So, where do you think he'll try to come in? Windows? Front door?" Zachary questioned more to himself than Sashi.

"We may want to keep our eyes open everywhere, I'm pretty sure he's prone to bursting through walls." Sashi noted.

"A good point. Shall we split up?"

"Probably a good plan." Sashi began walking, passing Zachary to take her own path to survey the area and gaurd the castle.

He found himself alone again, his anxieties picking at him less. His heartbeat was still the only sound to keep him company in the lonesome halls, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out existence from his awareness. That existence involving a crashing sound about twenty minutes into his solitary stroll.

Without hesitation, he stopped halfway through a step, spinning around to run in the direction of Sashi's route- slipping and stumbling as he found his footing.

He came upon a scene, Sashi struggling to escape some non-existant grasp, nothing but a green haze wrapping around her neck. She scratched at the ring, falling to her knees and gasping.

Rippen was distracted with Sashi, and Larry was making a run for the king's room with a vile in hand. Without any thought, Zachary lunged, stopping himself just in front of Rippen. Before the man could react, Zachary had crouched, and jumped, headbutting Rippen in the chin. The brunette wavered slightly, his head stinging from the impact.

"Sashi! Get Larry!" He called, keeping sights locked onto the stumbling villain. Sashi didn't bother to speak past her recovering her breath, instead breaking into a sprint after the tiny man.

"A good shot..." Rippen hissed, seeming to be moving his jaw as if to hook it back into place. "But, do you really think a chipped tooth or a bitten tongue will stop me?" Rippen chuckled, his hands taking on a green glow.

"I was more just hoping to distract you- I haven't thought this whole plan out..." Zachary muttered just before Rippen shot him back with a shot to the chest. The brunette was sent down the hall, crumpling in on himself and only stopping when he collided with a display of armor. The air had left his lungs, and the stinging of the blast made breathing hard. But, he still kept a solid glare.

Rippen floated forward, laughing at the boy sitting in the heap, the teenager couldn't even stand if he wanted to, as a spear from the display had pinned his tunic to the floor.

"So, where is Penn? Is he off in some secret area, waiting for me to walk by?" Rippen questioned, landing gently on the castle carpet.

"Nah..." Zachary let the word out with a struggled wheeze. "He's takin' a sick day... I-I'm hero for today." He tried to move, wincing at the pain that shot through his body.

Rippen laughed again, a mockery to the brunette.

"Oh, please. You? You're the team leader? You couldn't even lead a starving horse to food. I've seen you- you don't play well with others." His lips curled into a smirk, seeing the slightest sign that he'd struck a cord in the anti-hero. "You leading the team is that last thing these brats need."

"We can agree to disagree- because I think my old teammates would argue against you." Zachary chuckled, relaxing slightly in his position. Rippen raised a brow, growing curiousity at who this boy was exactly.

"No matter, with the temporary hero out of the way, I can win this with no problem-" He tried to walk away with a cocky stride, but a metal glove (without a hand in it) struck the back of his head and ruined his exit. He turned around with a sharp glare, muttering profanity at the boy. His hand raised, he gripped it into a fist, binding Zachary's arms to hide sides- the same as he had done to strangle Sashi. He let his fist rise, Zachary following, pulled out of the mess. Brought to Rippen's feet on his knees.

"I believe this is where you beg for mercy." Rippen chuckled, finding joy in the glare Zachary gave, like a threatened animal facing it's predator-keeping a brave face in the line of failure.

"Nah, not much for begging. I'm more of a please and thank-you kind of guy." Zachary grinned, giving a shrug before shifting into a standing position, his arms still bound to his sides. Rippen scowled.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" Zachary simply gave another shrug to the villain's question.

"I get that a lot." He brought his hands to his hips, his arms phasing through his binds. Rippen gasped slightly, shocked at the boy freeing himself. The green haze that surrounded the boy faded as he stepped forward.

"How... are you-"

"Oh? You didn't know? A wise ol' lad once told me to never leave the house without knowledge on magic." Zachary folded his hands behind his back, hiding the cut in his arm he'd made with the sharpened edge of his armor in order to use the blood for an anti-spell. Rippen balled his hand into a fist, bringing it down and releasing a green-cloud. The fog lifted, and the man was gone. Zachary smirked, before running to find Sashi and Larry.

* * *

"You'll hand that over if you know what's good for you..." Sashi growled, cornering Larry, her hands out and ready to steal the vile from his grip. Larry whimpered slightly, looking for a way to escape- hoping his boss would fly in at any second to save him.

"SAAAAAAASH!" Zachary let his voice echo down the hall as he met up with the girl.

"Rippen poofed. I have no idea where the fucker is." He panted when he reached the girl, planting his hands on his knees and letting deep breaths fill his still stinging chest. She noted the dent on his chest plate with nothing but a glance. Zachary looked around her, seeing Larry cowering in the corner. Not wanting to deal with this any longer, he stepped forward- simply taking the vile and turning his back to find the sorcerer. As a final warning, Sashi faked a lunge at the minion, smiling slightly when he flinched, then taking her leave as well to follow the other knight.

"Fingers crossed he hasn't found Boone yet." Sashi stated once she caught up. "Something tells me Rippen isn't going to stop just because he doesn't have his poison." She glanced to the vile in Zachary's hand, thinking about all the ways he could easily off the king with his magical powers.

Zachary stopped suddenly, the lack of a warning causing Sashi to continue with her steps, stopping about a foot ahead of the boy.

"Yo! Rip!" Zachary shouted, his voice echoing down the empty halls.

"You rang?" His voice caused the two teenagers to jump, they both turned to see the sorcerer floating in the air above them. Sashi bent her knees and balled her hands into fists, ready to take the man on in hand-to-hand combat.

"Take it." Zachary held out the vile, startling both Sashi and Rippen slightly.

"What are you doing!?" Sashi exclaimed, earning no reaction from the brunette. Rippen hesitated, glancing around slightly for traps- wondering if they were lying about Penn being sick, wondering if the boy actually _was_ hiding somewhere.

"Just. Take it." Zachary shook the vile slightly. Rippen finally decided to bite, he let himself fall to the floor in front of the boy, snatching the vile from the teenager.

"Well, it seems you've had a change of heart." Rippen grinned. Considering re-hiring the boy to be his minion. He turned, looking at the vile with bloodlust, paying no attention to Zachary pulling out a pre-prepared slip of paper, the note containing several circles and lines. He slapped it onto Rippen's back, the symbols lighting up and sending a tingling sensation down Rippen's spine.

"What? What was that?" He tried to steal a glance at his back, simply spinning and grabbing helplessly at the piece of paper. He glared at the teenagers, jutting out a finger to shoot a blast at them.

Nothing.

Nope.

Nada.

No matter how much he jerked his hand, nothing came out, Zachary simply grinned.

"What did you do to me!?" Rippen hissed, stepping forward to get into the boy's face as a threat.

"Magic seal." Zachary grinned mischeviously. "Means you're my bitch for the next few minutes." He laughed, earning confused looks from both Sashi and Rippen. "I told you, never leave the house without knowing a bit of magic. Whether it be actual spell casting or rune writing~" He chimed. "Come on." He waved for Sashi to follow him, leaving the now useless sorcerer to pout over his loss of power.

"Shouldn't we of taken the poison?" Sashi questioned as they jogged, Zachary's response being nothing but a slap to his forehead.

"Crap! Forgot that!"

* * *

"What? Wha'z going on..." Penn slurred his words, blocking the light from his vision.

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey." Zachary chimed with a yawn. "Sleep well?" He sat on the end of Penn's bed with his legs crossed.

Penn hummed out a yawn, stretching out his back and feeling several of his joints crack. "I guess." He rubbed at one of his eyes, feeling groggy and drowsy. He glanced at the clock, noticing the time. "How'd the mission go?"

"Oh, pretty good... pretty good. I mean- an old man died. But, we still won. Still counts as a win for us when the guy dies from natural reasons, and not by Rippen's hand. So the kingdom is gonna be taken over by the prince- not some psycho wizard." Zachary stated, not bothering to give any context to the ill redhead. Penn parted his lips to ask, but a powerful sneeze interrupted him. Zachary immediately covered his face when Penn took a few deep breaths, throwing a discarded t-shirt his way to act as a tissue.


	20. Chapter 20: Technologic

**shit i'm running out of chapter titles ;; gettin' a little hard to think of them. i'll probably end up resorting to song titles/lyrics for some of these aha  
**

* * *

"Ah, good to be back!" Penn took a deep breath as he opened the doors to the theatre, taking in the scent of the old chairs and the dust in the air. Even with Zachary cleaning it occassionally, the smell of age was still heavy in the building. He hopped up onto the platform, bumping fists with both his teammates.

"Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Boone joked at Zachary, who walked in with his head down. His face showed something between a scowl and concern.

"Hm? Sorry." Was all his response.

"He was up late texting again." Penn rolled his eyes, recalling the amount of times he'd had to confiscate the phone to ensure the brunette slept.

"Must've been one heavy conversation." Sashi leaned and whispered to Penn, noting how the boy muttered to himself.

Zachary rolled his eyes, now fully out of his trance-like state. He tucked his hands into his pockets, thumbing the device that allowed him to travel with his companions.

"Today is computer world. Goodluck, don't die." She sent them off, wanting to return to her show and cup of coffee.

* * *

"Woohoo!" Penn cheered, immediately shooting his laser gun up into the air. Everyone on the team was wearing black suits, lined with details of glowing blue. The sky was a screen of black, green symbols floating around and reading out patterns of zeros and ones.

As Penn and Boone played with their weapons, Zachary chose to play with his own attire. Everyone seemed to have been granted tight suits that covered most of their bodies, a way of protection, lightweight armour of sorts. Zachary on the other hand was given a similar suit- only the sleeves were missing, and he was given a familiar blue scarf. His wrists felt slightly weighed down with the weight of what looked to be gauntlets. He brought a finger to the goggles his attire had given him, pressing various buttons on the side of the gadget. His vision filled with static for a moment with symbols resembling a microphone and a camera at the bottom, he pressed another and a hologram floated in front of him for a second. Another button, blacked out his vision completely- the final button bringing up various symbols. He looked to Penn, a target locked in on him- his figure turned green for a second in Zachary's vision. The goggles offered various stats on the boy- like his height and physical status.

Sashi cleared her throat, earning the attention of the three boys, they all stopped and looked to her in silence- aside from Zachary pressing a button to turn his goggles back to regular face wear, the device beeping silently as it shut down.

"A notorious program has taken over the city of Techor. He made his way to being mayor by disguising himself as a friendly program- but the four of us have found out he's a lethal virus. We need to stop him and reveal his plans to the whole city before he uploads himself to the internet- downloading himself to every computer that connects to the web- and destroying them instantly." Sashi spoke, her glasses showing various images illustrating their mission.

"If Rippen gets away with this, it'll turn into the tech-based apocolypse we've all feared." Penn commented. "Now then, if I were a beloved-but-secretly-evil mayor, where would I be..." The redhead looked around, thinking carefully about where they'd need to go.

"How about we check up there?" Boone pointed to one of the many buidlings, all matching the aesthetic of the teams outfits. Black with glowing blue details. The building Boone had pointed to seemed to the the tallest, a large screen on the front of it showing various advertisements for software- occassionally showing an image urging the people to re-elect the virus that Rippen had replaced.

"Vote for Rylette" Rylette must've been the man who Rippen had taken the place of.

"How have they not noticed this guy is bad news- he's red. The villains are always red." Zachary pointed out, his eyes taking in the sight of Rippen's form. His suit appeared similar to the team's clothing, but his seemed to resemble a fancy suit. Rather than blue, his clothing was accented with red lines. A matching red tie sitting nicely in his ensemble.

"Who cares about his colour pallette. We need to get in there and stop him." Sashi didn't want to hear the conversation continue on, turning into a discussion on colours- and knowning Zachary, it'd take a turn to colour theory or something worse. The group had learned the hard way to not talk about colours around an artist.

The team immediately set out, dodging through various other citizens of the computer wold, all of them seeming to be busy and in a rush to get somewhere.

Zachary was the first to reach the front entrance, mostly thanks to his helpful goggles. With the press of a button, his gear was able to find the quickest path for him, based on distance between programs and the nature of them. Next was Sashi, then Penn, Boone was the last to arrive as he'd been distracted by an old lady-esque program who wanted to talk to him.

The building seemed to be very low security, the occassional guard here and there, but outside of that it seemed to be very open to the public. A few bodies stood around the area, some of them chatting, others rushing into the elevators for business. Penn watched as they entered the transportation- big transparent tubes with clear platforms. He watched a rather dapper program run up to the guard, show his I.D., then after entry the machine lifted him up and he began the ride to his destination, likely a business meeting.

"Guys, this way." He waved an arm to his team, leading their attention to the elevator. Zachary had wandered off though, his attention stuck on a picture on the wall.

"How are we supposed to get through there?" Sashi asked in a hushed tone, eyeing up the guard. Curious of how difficult it'd be for her to take him down.

"Just follow my lead." Penn tried to reassure, taking on an overly casual walk, stopping in front of the guard with Sashi and Boone following behind with their own calm acts.

"I.D." The program demanded, crossing his heavy arms and looking down at the trio.

"Don't you know who I am?" Penn questioned, earning an eyebrow raise from the guard. "He doesn't know who I am?" He turned to his companions, using a tone of disbelief and acting insulted.

"Calm down, sir." Boone put his hands up to try and calm Penn's fake diva-tantrum, the redhead simply rolled his eyes and flipped his hair, Sashi immediately taking over pretending to calm the hero. "Don't you know who he is?" Boone whispered to the guard. No answer. "He's- like... the most... important guy ever!" Boone made up. "Listen, you should just let us through before this gets any worse-"

Penn cut Boone off with a scream. "WHERE IS MY SMOOTHIE!?" He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the act. Commit or quit, Boone (and his drama teacher) always said.

"Come on, dude. We can forget this ever happened if you just let us through..." Boone tried again, this time begging, quite literally as he _really_ wanted to get through.

The guard gave no response. The trio all fell silent, Penn still with his arms crossed and his back to the large program.

They were thrown out.

Sashi, of course, didn't go without kicking and screaming. This attracted the attention of the public around them.

"Sash. Sash!" Penn tried to get her attention with hushed and quick whispers. "We don't need everyone to know we're trying to break into the city hall here..." She let her tantrum die, settling to glare in the direction of the guard.

"Next time we get in there... I'm shoving his motherboard straight up his-"

"I'm so sorry, sirs and madame." The guard hurried out, picking up Boone by the back of his collar and dusting him off. He set the boy down on his feet before standing to the side, extending an arm to invite and guide them in. "Come in, come in. Young Master Rylette has informed me of my mistake." The guard cleared his throat, sounding nervous.

Sashi mouthed out the question- wondering who this 'Young Master Rylette' was and what was going on with this sudden change of character.

As a way to play, Penn walked in with a smug grin, faking a lunge at the guard- who flinched and yelped, shaking only when Penn looked away.

They were met by an open armed Zachary.

"Ah, my comrades. Welcome." The brunette greeted them, shaking Boone and Sashi's hands as a formal greeting, and welcoming Penn, last of all, with a hug and a kiss to each cheek. "Please, right this way. I hope Neil hasn't caused too much trouble." The trio all looked over their shoulders in a way to draw as minimal attention to themselves as possible, Neil, the guard, jumped when he noticed Penn looking his way. The large program hid his face and distracted himself with helping out a female looking program.

They turned back to Zachary, who held his arm out-much like Neil did, leading the team to the elevator with a wink.

Only once they were entered did Zachary answer, raising more questions when he swiped a keycard through the slot on the keypad- he entered in the coordinates.

"Okay, explain." Sashi demanded. "How did you..."

Zachary giggled slightly. "He's all brawn, no brain. I just told him i was Rippen's son and you three were with me. Apparently we're in a huge hurry to make it to a big meeting. I told him I dropped my keycard and forgot where we were supposed to go, he told and gave me everything." Zachary grinned, obviously proud of himself. "I ain't just a pretty face, I've done my fair share of B.N.E."

"Well, we have a bit before we get there. Time for a plan." Penn brought his fist down to his hand, urging the team to give ideas for how they were going to storm the meeting.

The only real part of the plan they had was continue having Zachary play Rippen's son, both as a distraction and to keep Rippen from sicking guards on them- the only problem being if the _real_ son of Mr. Rylette showed- then they'd need to think quickly. Hopefully Zachary looked more similar to the villain than the newly heard of child.

That's exactly what they did. The dream team all watched from the cover of the wall as Zachary stepped into the meeting room, the three of them chuckling as Rippen struggled not to call the gaurds after Zachary gave him an affectionate "Daddy!" Followed by a cuddle.

They watched Rippen growl to the boy, forced to go along with it. Ruffling Zachary's hair, then pulling the boy onto his lap like a child as the rest of the company watched and cooed over the adorable 'father-son' moment they were witnessing.

"We've got a bit of time." Sashi murmured before the three of them slipped away without being seen, knowing that Rippen knew they were there- and with any given breaks he was likely to send guards tearing down the building to find the remaining heroes.

Their entry wasn't exactly smooth or discreet. On a few occassions Sashi had to violently take out programs, each time finding quicker and quicker ways to knock the guards out. She learned that their weapons were 'de-stabilizers' that temporarily bugged coding, using those made their job a lot easier. They each grabbed one, Penn taking two for when they met up with the brunette again.

"Halt." The team came up on another set of guards, rather than being attacked... this one simply demanded they stop with a raised hand. "We've been informed of your un-approved entry. Cease moving further or face the conseque- put that down." The guard scolded when he noticed Sashi creeping toward him with her weapon raised. The girl obliged, muttering profanity at the program under her breath.

"Listen... we... need to get by! Important business, we're friends of Young Master Rylette- and have full permission to pass." Penn spoke, lowering his voice to sound more important.

'"False. Reginald Rylette has not logged in his entry yet." The guard said.

"Reginald...?"

"He's in the conference room!" Boone spoke up, pointing back down the hall they came down.

"Oh, contraire. It appears my son _isn't_ here, and I put the meeting on hold so I we could stretch our legs." The doors behind the guards opened up, Rippen stepping out with a tied up Zachary, a de-stabilizer aimed to his back. A couple of guards armed with lasers surrounded the team, Penn reached back to grab for his own laser, only to hear the cocking of a gun.

"How did you-" Sashi started, looking over her shoulder then back at the man.

"This hallway loops around, you lot were going in circles." Rippen laughed. "I must admit, it was clever playing as my close company." He gave Zachary's shoulder a squeeze, the boy grimacing with the heavy force of his grip against the crook of his neck. "Now then, how about you three stand down, you can join your friend- and I can finally get my victory."

Penn glared, not letting his vision leave the man when a laser poked him in the shoulder, urging him to traise his arms above his head. Sashi and Boone gave in, Penn sighing and doing the same.

* * *

Nobody spoke up on the long walk, a single guard leading the team to some form of a holding chamber.

"Sorry I couldn't hold him off..." Zachary sighed.

"It's not your fault." Sashi reassured, raising a hand to rest it on the boy's shoulder, only to have a gun shoved into her back.

"All hands to yourself." The guard hissed.

"We need to find a way out of here." Penn murmured.

"No whispering." The guard scolded, jabbing his weapon into the small of Penn's back and earning a pained yelp from the boy, who rubbed the soar spot when the weapon was moved.

The four of them were locked in a room, no windows, the door was solid and blended with the walls, leaving them all in the faint glow of their own clothing- most of the light coming from Sashi and Zachary's glasses. Zac's arms were now freed, the boy massaging his numb limbs.

"Alright. Things aren't looking too bright for us." Penn commented, earning Zachary's attention, having to squint and block his eyes from the light of his goggles.

"Sorry." The brunette apologized quietly, tapping the button to black-out his eyewear before pushing the glasses up to rest on his forehead.

"We need to get out of here- who knows how long until Rippen finds his way onto the internet!" Sashi shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls with her lack of volume control. Her, Penn, and Boone began a discussion, throwing out plans for escape. Most involved waiting for a guard to check on them, then knocking them out. They figured if Boone screamed loud enough, they'd gain attention.

Boone took a deep breath in, stopping when the other part of the cell lit up. Then went dark. Then lit up. Then went dark, and so on.

Zachary tapped at the buttons on his wrist-wear. The blocky cuffs turning out to be blades of some sort, looking to be made of electricity.

"Well, this would've been nice to know, like twenty minutes ago." Penn sighed, watching Zachary step to the front of the cell to test something.

The team had already tried their guns, only to have the shots ricochet back at them- but Zachary's blade slipped right through. He dragged his arm upwards, and what do you know, it left a clean cut.

He spent no time in cutting a hole big enough for the team to slip out, letting the other three make their escape before he stepped out himself.

No guards seemed to be blocking the halls, the run was smooth, Penn leading the team to victory.

Penn _stopping_ the team dead in their tracks and shooing them back behind the corner.

"-yes. I need that connection within the next **fifteen** minutes. What do you mean that's not enough time?! I'll have your hard drive torn out and shoved up your-"

"Alright. Any plans?" Penn drew their attention from the furious villain to speak with the team about a way to make it around Rippen.

 _Tap Tap Tap Tap-_

"What?" Rippen spun around form his pacing just in time to see a blue scarf disappear from his sight. He took steps away from the wall, seeing the back of a dashing Zachary, he turned, double-taking on the heroes that crouched in hiding- hoping for the villain's sight to glide over them with no notice of their presence.

With a call to the guards, they were off. The three teenagers rushing by the villain, nearly knocking him over in the process. There was no way they could catch up with Zachary, so they chose to instead take their own path through the twisting halls, focusing on nothing but escaping guards that popped up here and there.

Under less than desirable circumstances they did find Zachary. The four of them all circled by armed guards, all holding either spear-like weapons that were glowing with energy, or the laser guns the team knew and now hated.

"It's the end of the line!" Rippen caught up, hiding the fact he desperately needed to catch his breath. "Larry! Larr- where is Larry." Rippen growled, poking at his phone and holding it to his ear.

"Right here!" Rippen yelped at the sudden appearance of his minion.

"Oh dear god... Make sure the connection is set- and set up a front row seat for these four to see me win~" Rippen chimed, straightening his tie and trying to pretend he didn't just have the bejeebus scared out of him. Larry opened his mouth, Rippen cut him off. "And I don't mean make several rows like you did last time. I mean just find them a good spot to stand so they can watch me upload the virus to the internet and they won't be able to stop me." Rippen grumbled, rubbing his eyes with a tired hand and an annoyed grumble.

Without waiting for attention to be drawn away from the conversation, Zachary took his chance to throw his weight into one of the guards, knocking the huge program back, he dropped his weapon. The brunette picked up the spear, not waiting to slash it through the midsection of three guards. (including the one he disarmed) There was a brief screeching sound, joined by static- then the guards faded out of existence, their coding torn apart and destroyed by whatever weapon the boy held.

"Here's a plan, don't get hit by those things!" Boone yelped, shuddering at the thought of being wiped out of existence with the single swipe of the spears.

"Good plan!" Sashi shouted before diving into the fight, pouncing at the guards and landing with her feet planted to their chests- kicking back and knocking the walls of digital-muscle back into a few peers.

Penn and Boone took to dodging, leaving the fight to Zachary and Sashi, nobody noticing as Rippen made his hasty get away with Larry close behind.

Sashi took out anyone who threatened her with swift kicks and punches.

Zachary seemed to take a more graceful approach, spinning the spear with ease- his footwork light, graceful, and quick. He was easily compared to a skilled ballerina, one that had been given a bo staff to beat the crap out of their enemies with.

Penn and Boone tried to stay close to each other for comfort, seperated forcefully with a spear slicing between them, barely missing elbows and loose hairs.

Penn fell back, stumbling into the back wall as Boone dove for cover near Sashi, more guards piling into the fight as the scene rolled on.

It was obvious that the heroes were loosing steam, not only were they slower- but a guard managed to sneak right passed Sashi, finding his way to Penn. The boy trembled, holding his hands over his head for cover as the guard towered over him-bringing his spear back to penetrate Penn's abdomen.

The fight stopped with the sound of static, and pained screaming.

Penn watched, horrified as Zachary's form disintegrated and faded.


	21. Chapter 21: Baby you're too Digital

**as i said before, running low on titles here. congrats to anyone who manages to guess the references/song the lyrics are from! and a big thank-you to all my readers and reviewers! you guys keep me motivated to keep working~**

* * *

The guard fell apart with a strike from Sashi, piercing a spear through his back to his chest.

"All guards report to the streaming station! Prepare for takeover!"

The room emptied with the call of Larry's voice over the intercom, leaving a heavily breathing Sashi, a panicking Boone, and a traumatized Penn.

He watched his friend die. He watched the form of his roommate fall to peices in front of him.

"Penn! Penn! We have to hurry!" The boy only broke out of his pained staring, glassy eyes shooting to Sashi as she shook his shoulder. "There's no time! We can grieve later!" Her voice cracked slightly- Boone showing signs of pain as well. Penn gave his head a shake, wiped his eyes, then set off, wordlessly leading the team towards the sound of stomping and rushing.

They caught some guards on their way to the 'Streaming Station', following closely and quietly.

It was an open and round room, all the guards filing in and filling spectator boxes. Each had a glass window for a front wall, opening a vision to the streaming station.

A round platform took up the center of the room, three bridges leading off from it. There seemed to be a bottomless pit underneath the setup.

Penn and company had the luck of being led to the open box, it was high up above the other viewing rooms, it was an open blacony that was hanging over the stage area, giving them a clear and close view of the villain.

Penn's eyes locked to the device above the stage where Rippen looked to be entering. He waved to his army like a celebrity, blowing kisses and taking the occassional bow. Thanking them along the way. The villain came to a stop under the device- it looked like some huge villain-esque ray gun.

"Pull the lever, Larry!" Rippen commanded, pointing to Larry in one of the spectating rooms, the minion nodded. Pressing buttons and pulling switches to activate the machine.

The whole room shook and hummed, Sashi and Boone having to hold each other up, Penn gripping the waist-high wall of the balcony.

The ray-like device lit up, shooting a blue beam down that covered the whole stage, engulfing Rippen in a heavenly luminescence. His feet left the floor; he was being uploaded in front of the heroes' eyes.

With a shout, Penn leapt, falling just out of reach for Sashi to catch him.

He caught Rippen, holding the (now startled) villain by the collar, continuing his rage filled shouting, no words forming from his lips. Rippen tried to shake the boy off, earning a kick that sent him tumbling to the edge of the light. With some well placed flailing, Penn managed to throw himself forward, fully tackling Rippen out of the pull of the laser, the two of them fell. The sidekick and wiseman watched from the balcony, hearing Rippen's back collide with the edge of one of the bridges before the two of them bounced and continued falling into the surrounding pit.

"Come on!" Sashi urge Boone to follow, they needed to find a quick way to descend to help their friend- hoping the pit had a bottom and that the two weren't lost to stray-coding forever.

* * *

Penn and Rippen did meet the ground, rather painfully. They both rolled and bounced in opposite directions, blinded by the dark and headaches from impact.

Rippen struggled to stand, feeling his ankle give out slightly as he had landed on it.

Penn took a bit of time to stand, every bone in his body screamed, his arms shook as he pushed himself up- he was very upset that Rippen used him as a cushion for the landing.

"You... you killed him!" Penn spat, barely managing to raise his head to stare daggers at the part-time villain. His neck throbbed in horrid pain, as the rest of his body did as he finally pushed himself up. Hissing under his breath as he raised his fists to engage Rippen in hand-to-hand combat. Neither of the two males were able to use the discarded weapons on the floor- for they'd been crushed.

The only thing telling where the other was was the glow of their clothing. Penn tracking the cluster of lines that made up the design on Rippen's attire, his glowing red tie becoming the center of Penn's target.

Rippen limped backwards, stepping away from the angry, glowing blue lines that swore and spat at him for de-rezzing the other boy.

"I did nothing to him! The guards think on their own!" Rippen defended, barely dodging a punch that Penn threw, he was able to catch the enraged look on the boy's face when he came closer, the combined light of their suits lighting up his face, as well as his eyes adjusting to the dark.

Penn stumbled, pushing himself up again.

"You told them to 'take care of us'!" Penn spat back, focusing less on fighting- more on keeping his voice steady and hoping Rippen couldn't see the glassiness of his eyes through the blanket of darkness.

"How they interpret it is none of my business!"

Penn couldn't stand it, he clenched his teeth and dove for another punch, not noticing Rippen's stance. He didn't notce the man had a hidden de-stabilizer in his belt, which had been pulled out and brought into the fight.

The forked end of the weapon met Penn's chest, wringing the air out of his lungs and making his throat burn as his vision filled with static and his ears rung. Penn flew back, hitting the wall. Struggling to keep conscious as Rippen strode forward, holding his weapon, a slight limp in his swagger.

"So, this is how it ends? May your friends find you down here after I win." Rippen grinned, amusement on his voice. Penn scrunched up his face, preparing himself for the final strike.

"Y-you?! You! How are you!?" Penn's eyes shot open when Rippen began panicking, his sight flew up to the flowing, faint shape of a blue scarf, glowing ever so slightly in the dark.

"Multiple lives, motherfucker!" Was all Zachary shouted before landing a heavy punch in Rippen's rib cage. (he would've prefered the face, but he couldn't reach) The part-time villain fell back, dropping his weapon. Before he could recover and re-arm himself, Zachary brought a foot down on the weapon. Crushing it and releasing the energy within it.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Rippen exclaimed. "You can't have multiple lives!"

"Video game rules." Zachary shrugged, before thumping a fist to his chest, then giving a peace sign as a symbol above his head popped up.

" **x2** "

The boy had two lives left, the number faded shortly after appearing.

Zachary turned away from the villain, lifting the broken-boned Penn off the ground with careful movement, leaning the boy against his hip with an arm around his shoulders.

"This doesn't change anything! As long as I get up there-" Rippen started, pointing up towards the light of the room where he needed to be. His confidence cut off with the sound of creaking metal.

"Did I mention? The world let me respawn wherever I wanted to, and when I was looking for you two- Boone and Sashi were trashing the control room." The last thing Rippen saw was Zachary's wicked grin, illuminated only with the light of his goggles.

* * *

 _"Oh! Ow! Everything hurts!" Penn immediately howled when they were brought back to the Odyssey. While his bones were all healthy, his muscles still ached. His brain not quite catching up on the switch back to his own body, so his nerves still rang and screamed in pain and agony._

 _"I got ya..." Zachary fought back a chuckle, supporting all of Penn's weight to lessen his suffering. Ignoring the fact his chest still hurt where the spear had struck him. He was sure to have an interesting scar there._


	22. Chapter 22: Honey Honey

It was a tough decision. But, Zachary deemed it necessary.

He took another few days off of work, equalling to just over a week of his absence on missions.

Why did this happen?

He finally asked Phyllis to fix his device, the machine that let him teleport with the team. Zachary had been growing increasingly anxious about his old team- so he asked Phyllis to fix his teleporter. He needed to be able to transport whenever he needed to in case his old team needed him, he couldn't leave it running off of the MUT forever, he needed to ability to be free. To go home whenever.

Penn found out about this, the whole team immediately panicking and grieving over the thought they'd loose their friend.

"Guys, guys. I'm not leaving." He'd reassure. "I just need it fixed in case of emergencies, I'll still be able to work with you guys, Phyllis just won't be the one transporting me- I'll be doing it myself."

Which was what led to Zachary spending his days off sitting in the theatre, giving hints to the team through earpieces. This kind of annoyed Sashi, as the boy tended to be a backseat driver, suggesting things non-stop. She also found it a little weird hearing the boy constantly fawn over their appearances, mostly poking fun at them when they ended up as something cute.

But, with his absence on missions, he picked up a few more things. He started napping during workhours on some days, meaning he spent his nights wandering before power napping until the morning. The boy seemed almost like a pet to Penn at that point, bringing home things to show to Penn- much like he did in the past. He treated Penn to ice cream at 3 AM again.

The most common thing for the boy to bring home was actually cats. Stray cats. He'd bring them into Penn's room and spend an hour or two petting and playing with them, Penn often joining in or waking up to a purring mass on his stomach.

* * *

"You're transporter is fixed." Phyllis told the brunette, whose eyes lit up with joy. He took his device, and rubbed it to his cheek like he hadn't seen it in forever.

"So... you can go whenever now?" Boone asked, not wanting to see the boy go.

"Uh, yeah... I guess. But, I promise. I won't leave unless I actually need to." Zachary reassured. "My team can do fine on their own, they've got like six people worth of backup~" Zachary chimed, throwing his arms over Sashi and Penn's shoulders, chuckling and nuzzling the both of them. "You guys are still stuck with me for a bit." He chimed.

Phyllis sent them in once everyone took their places, Zachary zapping in a second behind them with the press of a button.

* * *

"Not exactly heroic, if you ask me." Penn commented, checking out his attire. He looked to be a waiter, complete with a white dress-shirt with rolled up sleeves, black jeans, and an apron around his waist. Sashi and Boone were both given the same attire, the only difference was Sashi had been given a black vest instead of the apron.

Boone and Penn were waiters, Sashi was a bartender. She leaned on the counter, looking around the area and sighing at the establishment they were in.

A bar.

With maids.

It was much like a maid cafe, filled with girls dressed in french-maid costumes. Some of them wearing cat ears like fanservice characters from anime. She snapped her fingers, breaking Penn and Boone away from staring at the pretty girls that were serving men. Flirting with them, giving them drinks. There was a stage set up in the bar, two poles sat proudly on it. Nobody seemed to be dancing though, a good thing, or else the mission may never finish.

"Alright, Sash, check the specs-" Penn started, finally prying his eyes away from a particular woman who had been bending over to place drinks on a table, her dress not covering up as much as it should.

"Hey... where's Zac?" Boone spoke up, stopping Sashi from speaking.

"Hmmm... Zac?" Penn hummed for a moment before calling for the boy's attention. "Zac?" He called again, slightly louder, hoping his voice would carry over the sound of the crowd and the music that played.

"Do you think his thingy is still broken?" Boone suggested the reason.

"I think he would've told us if that was the case." Sashi stated, picking up a few wet glasses and drying them off, they sparkled in the light when she placed them down.

"Sash's right. He's probably here, just out in the crowd... maybe?" Penn stood on his toes and hooded his eyes from the light with his hand. Looking about the crowd for a brunette that might stand out from the grouping of decently dressed men and woman doing their best to please.

"I don't see him..." Sashi spoke, wondering if maybe he really didn't make it.

Then there was a rustling from behind them, the trio all turned to face a curtain that covered a door. It looked to be a back room- a 'STAFF ONLY' sign pasted on the wall beside.

"Do you think that's..." Boone blushed slightly, thinking of it as a changeroom. How many girls could be in there?

Penn took a cautious step forward, lifting a hand to the curtain, his hand brushed it slightly. "Anyone in there?"

"Don't come in!" A voice filled with urgency spoke, Penn jumping back slightly at the outburst.

"Zac?" Penn asked again, this time with no hesitation in his reaching. He pulled the curtain back completely, revealing Zachary standing alone in a decent sized room, he was clicking vigorously at the buttons on his device, likely trying to change his attire.

Penn and Boone both suppressed laughs as the boy finally stomped out, revealing himself to the whole team.

He'd been given the luck of being a maid, a short french-maid dress covering him. It was barely long enough to cover his butt, the opportunity being easy for anyone to catch a peek underneath his dress. He flattened out his apron and tried to pull up the top half of the attire. The white fabric not doing a great job at covering his chest, the center of his pectorals showing through like woman's cleavage.

Sashi couldn't help but suppress a laugh, unable to hold back and snickering under her breath. Even with the glare, it was hard to take the boy seriously with his short, poofy black sleeves and knee-high white socks. He adjusted the white gloves on his hands, snatching a platter off the counter. He gave his dress a final pull downwards to try and cover himself better.

"J-just get to the mission." He growled, not looking to the team. His cheeks flushed and Penn and Boone continued to chuckle to each other. To try and hide his laughter better, the redhead was holding his own silver platter up over the grin that was plastered to his face, Boone choosing to hide behind the note pad he had in hand.

Sashi finally managed to quiet her amusement, triggering her glasses to tell of their mission. "We're bar workers who have caught wind of a billionaire's plan. He plans to take the 10:00 train to the city hall and... plant a bomb to get rid of the president! We need to stop him before midnight when the bomb goes off- or the evil tyrant, Mr. Thaddius, will take over the country and start writing ridiculous laws to ruin the country's freedom and peace."

"If I knew we were stopping a war I would've worn different shoes." Zachary poked a bit of fun at his attire, looking down to his shiny black shoes, the heels giving him even more of a vertical advantage over his friends.

"At least you'll look good when they take your picture for the newspaper." Penn laughed, not bothering to cover up his face, earning a flush and an eyeroll from the brunette.

"So, is this Thaddius guy here? How do we know when we can stop him?" Boone spoke up.

"The train station is nearby, so at 10:00 we have to be there to stop him." Sashi answered.

"Well... it's 8:45 now, we have some time to spare." Penn said, checking his watch and showing the face to his friends.

"Looks like we'll have to blend in." Sashi returned to shining glasses, tapping around on the touch screen above the register to find recipes for drinks in case anyone wished to order anything.

"I hate this mission. I _really_ hate this mission." Zachary groaned, changing his stance so he was holding his platter with one hand, trying to seem as waitress-y as possible.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun." Penn threw an arm over Zachary's shoulder, leading him towards the crowd for a few steps before walking away with a chuckle. Sauntering over to customers and awkwardly collecting empty glasses. Boone did the same, instead opting to take orders. Scribbling down words he didn't know the meaning of, names of fancy drinks. Zachary simply continued pouting, backing up slightly and feeling nervous at the constant breezes he felt flowing up his skirt.

"Trust me, I know how you feel. I've had my fair-share of embarrassing forms." Sashi tried to reassure.

"Really? Like what? I can't think of anything worse than this." Zachary sat down on one of the bar stools, making sure to keep his legs shut as he leaned an elbow on the counter.

"Well, I was a purple bunny once. And if you squeezed me I'd play music." She sighed, remembering beating her own chest in to stop the tune, the memory caused her to also remember the pain of the rock.

"I guess that would've been pretty bad for you- but I still think I've got it worse." He chuckled slightly, pulling up one of his socks as it threatened to slip down his leg.

"Either way, you need to get out there- I think it'll be a little suspicious if people catch a maid drinking their sorrows away." Sashi adviced, motioning with a jerk of her head for the boy to get into the crowd and do whatever came naturally (besides having the anxiety attack that Zachary could feel boiling in his system)

The brunette let out a sigh, knowing the girl was right. "Mind whipping up a drink for me to calm down a bit first?" He joked with a smirk, Sashi glaring slightly and rolling her eyes as the boy finally stepped away.

Deep breath.

"Okay, Zakky-boy. You can do this, just do what comes naturally." he said to himself, lifting his silver platter to hold it with one hand. Another deep breath and he set off into the crowd.

* * *

Penn had his work cut out for him. He was running around the bar in a hurry to collect any empty glasses he saw- collecting orders for refills. ' _How do waiters do this?!'_ He thought to himself, taking a break by the bar, breathing heavily.

"Having fun?" Sashi fought off a snicker, enjoying her own relaxing position. The patrons were all far too drunk to realize half their drinks were filled with mistakes.

"So... many... people!" Penn whined.

"Boone seems to be handling it pretty well." Sashi motioned with a hand to Boone, who seemed to be having a rather fun time skipping around, collecting orders, then dropping off the slips of paper to Sashi's station. "You seen Zachary? I have no idea where he went since he disappeared to do his work.

"Zac? I thought I saw him at one point..." Penn thought, he'd caught the boy just as he ventured into the crowd, but lost sight as customuers continued to call him.

"You better find him quick, it's 9:30. We should be heading to the station soon." Sashi tapped at Penn's watch.

"Right." The redhead nodded and set off.

9:45

Penn finally found Zachary.

It was a little... weird? Is 'weird' the right word?

The boy was surrounded by men, he had completely taken on the role of being a maid and working for the bar. He laughed and smiled as men surrounded him, all offering money for 'private sessions' or asking for a kiss. Zachary declined everyone with giggles and a higher pitched voice he put on to sound cuter. Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact he was male, so they either hadn't noticed the flat chest or they just didn't care.

Without knowing another way to get the boy's attention, Penn waved vigorously, pointing to his watch once the anti-hero's eyes met his.

"Oh! I'm so sorry everyone, but I have to go~" Zachary chimed, pouting slightly. "You've all been darling though~ I hope we can meet again soon." Two men helped him up and the crowd parted for Zachary to meet with Penn. A few of the customers waved sadly, others blowing kisses to the brunette.

Zachary didn't say anything, simply walking to the entrance of the bar.

"That was..." Penn started, not sure how to comment. "...convincing."

Zachary let out a deep breath when he opened the door to the bar, letting his posture fall to a slouch, his face immediately falling and looking drained of all energy.

" _Sweet tatas_ it's tiring hanging around men for that long." He complained, fanning himself in the cool night air.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself." Penn joked.

"I dabbled in acting back in the day, of course I looked like I was enjoying myself."

"We gotta get going!" Sashi interrupted what could've been the rest of their conversation. "The train'll be here in ten minutes!"

The team set out, running over terrain to find the nearby train tracks and station. The original trio seemed to have no trouble. Zachary needed constant assistance, his shoes and dress were _not_ fit for climbing over rocks and through wild grass.

They ducked in the bushes, coming up just in time to see the locomotive stop. Nobody entered except for two figures. A tall business man, and a short, tubby man carrying a box.

"That's them!" Boone pointed out in a hushed tone.

The conductor must've seen that nobody else was boarding, so the train let out a burst of smoke, then began moving forward.

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Penn scurried out of the bushes, doing his best to stay upright and quick.

Boone had unfortunately tripped, leaving himself in the dust.

Penn heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor of the train behind him, as he turned to look, his arm was taken in a vice-like grip with a rough tug. He jumped, pushed his feet off the side of the train, and managed to roll in before the train became too fast for him to keep up with.

"Penn! Zac!" Sashi called, stopping once she realized there was no way for her to catch up. " **Be careful!** " She shouted, hands cupped around her mouth to amplify the sound. Penn leaned out, waving to her and watching her shape disappear in the distance and the grass.


	23. Chapter 23: My Dynamite Gal

They had some time to sit, mostly catching their breaths.

Penn sat with his back against the crates that sat in the open-sided car with them, his breath coming in long and heavy ins-and-outs.

"Rip is in the first class cars." Zachary pulled himself back into the car, leaning out and keeping himself steady with a hand to the wall and his feet firmly planted. Penn stifled a laugh at Zachary's wind-blown hair-do, his brown locks all messed up, curling this way and that.

"We need to find a way to find his bag..." Penn hummed in thought, tapping a finger to his chin. He figured doing that would be far easier than confronting the man. They could grab the bomb, then dispose of it far away from civilization for it to detonate safely.

He'd gotten himself so deep in planning he didn't notice Zachary had begun looting through boxes and crates to find anything useful. He found a box full of piping, pulling out the longest one and set it down by his side to be saved for a weapon. Also pocketing any smaller weapons he found.

Penn's attention was only drawn when a pair of aviator sunglasses slid across the wooden floor, coming to a stop next to Penn's foot. He picked them up, unfolding them and holding them up to his face as to put them on- his attention finally falling to the rummaging anti-hero. He folded the eyewear up again, tucking the side into his shirt to keep them in access.

"What are you doing?" Penn questioned, waddling over on his knees to end up beside the brunette. Zachary didn't answer right away, instead he placed three revolvers onto the floor beside him, laying a handful of bullets next to them.

"I refuse to walk into a fancy shmancy train car without weaponry- considering Rippen has a bomb, he's defintely going to have some sort of defense on him." As Zachary explained, he loaded one of the guns with bullets, flipping it shut with a flick of his wrist and looking over the weapon to make sure everything was locked in place and ready for firing.

Penn opened his mouth to speak more, cut off when he was handed the newly-loaded weapon. "A-are we really gonna need these?" He grimaced at the thought of being caught in the middle of a gunfight. Bullet holes did _not_ sound like painless additions to make to his body.

"Yeah?" Zachary quirked a brow, not clueing in that thorough gun experience probably wasn't common amongst highschool students like Penn. "Listen, it's more like a... last resort or a precautionary. Just in case we end up cornered. Now, you can either choose to make it a weapon- or a tool." Zachary stated, turning back to the crate and pulling out an old and rusty hunting knife, pulling it out of the sheath, then opting to toss it to the side-the blade damaged and dull.

"I don't think I'm following... 'a weapon or a tool'?" Penn questioned, unable to see the gun as anything other than a handheld machine meant to pierce skin.

"You can use it to harm people, or use it to change the environment. Maybe shatter glass to spill something, shoot a rope to let loose things. You know, trickshooting." Zachary loaded the other two guns, looking down the tops of each and holding them as if he was about to shoot. After he noted the weapons to be acceptable, he tucked them into his dress and pocketed the extra bullets, fitting the weapons nicely into the large blue ribbon that was tied around his waist- coming around to the back in a huge, blue bow. "Come on, I _kind of_ have a plan." Zachary stood, grabbing the pipe before he did so.

"You... ' _kind of_ ' have a plan?" Penn repeated, feeling a little worried at the lack of a plan the boy seemed to have, the fact that they were running around with loaded weapons making it even worse.

"Yes. It's mostly just improvisation. The plan is: find Rippen, and get him out into the open on top of the train." Zachary pointed upward on the final word. Leaving Penn baffled at the way this guy worked. The brunette walked to the side of the train that Penn had previously been sitting on, moving boxes out of the way and revealing a door, opening it revealed the entrance to the next car up.

None of the entrances were locked, thank god. The two traveling with ease and many jumps between the cars, finally making it past storage to the fancy, first-class areas.

"You're not just gonna run in there and shoot up the place? Are you?" Penn gripped Zachary's shoulder, forcing the boy to stop and think on the small balcony on the outside of the train car.

"No, no. We're gonna chase Rippen out- but very subtley. We'll just sit and when he sees us, he'll likely take his bag and leave- we'll follow, eventually cornering him and backing him up onto the top of the train." Zachary explained, laying his pipe down before opening the door, calmly walking in with all his on-hand weaponry hidden from sight. Penn doing the same, looking slightly more nervous and sweatier than his companion.

They didn't need to walk very far, choosing the first open booth they saw- the one just to the left of the entrance of the car. There was no discarded trash, no papers or bags left behind. It was as clean as it must've been before the train began its rounds for that day.

The only hard part was waiting, the two of them picking up a casual conversation, unable to truly enjoy it as they waited for Rippen to see them and make an escape. Penn had been given that job, as he was the one facing the rest of the passengers, finding Rippen and Larry sitting a few booths away from them on the right side of the car. He noticed every so often as Rippen glanced to them, tapping the table twice. A code they'd come up with to seem as unsuspicious as possible.

Two taps to note that Rippen had seen them.

Three taps, to warn that Rippen seemed to be thinking about moving.

Four, finally, meaning the man was on the move.

After about four rounds of two, he noticed Rippen digging through his pockets, looking at his watch and notes of paper. Three taps were given as the man grew antsy.

Finally, he used the four-tap-warning. Rippen and Larry packing up, standing and moving to the next cart over. Zachary waited until he heard the door shut, then stood and led the duo as casually as possible through the door.

Rippen and Larry were unseen. Zachary grit his teeth, patting at his side to ensure he still had both weapons hidden and in easy access. Penn's hand simply hovered over the deep pocket of his apron, the bulge of the glock only noticable if he bent his leg to a certain angle. Without warning, Zachary huffed and sped up, walking quickly through the empty and dark train car, exiting and making his way to the next. It appeared the only inhabited car on the entire train was the previous one they'd been sitting in.

Penn stood still, listening to the train moving. Although the emptiness seemed to scream at him, there was a hum of presence. And before he could turn a hand clasped over his mouth, another gripping his wrists tightly behind his back.

Zachary was long gone, so even if Penn did shout for backup the anti-hero likely wouldn't hear.

"Nice of you to join us, Penn Zero~" Rippen chimed, removing his hand from Penn's mouth, having to use the appendage to complete the knot of Penn's binds. The ropes were tight against his bare skin, the material rubbing and burning every time Penn struggled. Without another word, Rippen hooked his fingers around the rope, pulling Penn behind him and out onto the balcony that connected the two cars.

"Let me go!" Penn writhed.

"You may want to be careful, boy, lest I _accidentally_ drop you." Rippen chuckled, pretending to drop Penn by pushing the hero down, the only thing holding him from landing face first on the tracks that rushed by was Rippen's hand. The hand that eventually gave a tug to pull Penn back up. Rippen grunted, Penn yelped, both of them making their way up the train. Rippen climbing up the ladder with a single hand, and Penn dangling from the grip of his other, being pulled up along with the villain, who continued to tug him along the top of the train. Pushing the boy in front of him, granting Penn an easier time walking- but his eyes forcing shut against the heavy passing winds.

* * *

"Penn?" Zachary was three carts down, only now clueing in that Penn wasn't behind him. And no matter how many doors that were slamming ahead of him, he couldn't see anyone, the culprit always outrunning him by _just_ enough to be out of his grasp. He considered turning on his heels, checking to see if Penn was on his way. He thought about continuing on with the plan. He had two guns, and lots of skill. If need be he could take both of the villains on, or at least defend himself.

The latter of the two won, Zachary keeping with his original path through the cars and over the gaps.

* * *

Larry finally made his trek to the end, carrying the bag with the bomb, careful not to jostle it out of fear it might detonate in his hands regardless of the time set on it. Climbing up the ladder wasn't easy- he was running low on breath, and he wasn't as skilled as Rippen. His ascent was slow, filled with lots of wriggling to try and adjust the suitcase as he went.

He did make it to the top eventually, but not before Zachary caught sight of him pulling himself up, catching a glimpse of Larry's legs disappearing behind the cover of the train's roof.

"Not a step further!" Was the friendly greeting Rippen gave as Zachary hoisted himself over the top of the train, his legs still holding most of his weight on the ladder. "Either you walk away, or we decorate the train with Zero's brains." There was a click as Rippen spun his own pistol around his finger, catching it and pressing the barrel to Penn's temple, earning a whimper from the hero who tried to keep a brave face. He tigthened his grip on Penn, flexing the arm he had wrapped around the hero's chest/neck to hold him back with the fact he only had one free hand. Larry didn't bother adding commentary or trying to look threatening, he was doubled over and catching his breath from the chase.

Zachary chewed the inside of his cheek, slowly pulling himself up as to not alert or surprise anyone. He rested his knees on the surface, raising his hands above his head and standing the rest of the way with his legs, the wind threatening to pull him off his balance.

Rippen stifled a laugh, obviously finding humour in Zachary's attire.

"Oh, that dress does fit you quite nicely." He finally let a laugh out with the mocking comment. Zachary simply rolled his eyes, arms sagging slightly, his wrists now lining up with his ears. "Do you surrender?" He moved his aim from Penn's temple, to Zachary.

 _Perfect._

Rippen had to steady his hand, startled when the brunette suddenly stirred, his hand flying into the band around his waist- fishing out his revolver.

Before Rippen could press the trigger and before Larry could pull out his own weaponry, Zachary let the first shot go, the bullet hitting the train's roof just between Rippen's feet, leaving a hole and likely embedding itself in the floor of the empty car below. The attack was enough to startle Rippen out of holding Penn. The redhead shouldered Rippen in the chest, wriggling free and running to his accomplice, who had fortunately packed a secret knife away in one of his stockings. Keeping his weapon aimed to the panicking villains, he reached and plucked the blade out- cutting Penn's bonds with a swift swipe. Penn only had a moment to steady himself with a breath, pulling his own weapon out and taking aim like Zachary had. Standing back-to-back with the anti-hero with his weapon-holding-hand extended out straight.

"You just love to make me suffer... don't you?" Rippen grumbled, taking aim and shooting several bullets, the ammo leaving a trail of holes along the surface they stood on, the last one in the line was what caused the heroes to dodge and seperate. Penn tried to regather himself to take a shot- wanting to knock a rock or two down onto Rippen from the mountain-side just next to them, but his weapon was knocked from his hand with a bullet. He clutched his now empty hand, looking to where the attack came from, eyes focusing to Larry fiddling with his weapon.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to do that at all!" Larry confessed, laughing like he'd only made a minor mistake, like dropping a glass or spilling coffee. He fidgeted with his weapon more, shooting another bullet straight up into the air, taking out a bird in the process. He was a pretty lucky shot for someone who had no clue what he was doing.

"How unfortunate, caught in a gunfight with no weapon! Ha!" Rippen laughed, taking confident steps towards Penn, backing the teenager up as far as he could go without his feet slipping off the rushing train.

"Duck!"

The call caused confusion, but Penn instantly threw himself forwards and to the floor, Rippen threw both hands up to shield his head from anything that might hit him, stumbling back a bit in a panic.

" _Psyche_."

Rippen didn't even realize he'd screwed his eyes shut upon expecting the impact. But now he'd opened them, seeing the brunette standing between him and the redhead.

Penn opened his eyes too, looking up after the call was made and the chuckle was given. He regretted that. He regretted looking up, getting the perfect view of Zachary's dress flowing in the wind, giving no coverage of what was hidden underneath- Penn getting the perfect view up the boy's skirt. He let out the tiniest yelp, his face turning bright red as he shielded his eyes, much like someone would do to block the sun from their vision.

"Aren't you clever..." Rippen hissed through clenched teeth, eyes switching quickly between the two weapons the boy held, a revolver in each hand, both loaded with bullets.

"Stand down, Rippy. I don't want to hurt you." Zachary warned, not removing his aim from the villain, only moving one gun slightly to focus on Larry who finally began holding his gun correctly, finger held far away from the trigger to avoid accidentally shooting... _again_.

"That makes one of us!" The villain spat, taking his shot, aiming for the chest of the anti-hero. He missed, instead leaving a crimson and leaking line in Zachary's shoulder, he only winced slightly, hissing through clenched teeth as he made his own shots. The bullets struck passing by trees and the moutain-wall that the train seemed to be following along its path to city hall.

Rippen and Larry shielded themselves from the raining debris of rock and leaves.

"Zac! City hall!" Penn warned, once again making the mistake of looking up, instantly covering his eyes and yelping, earning a fought off snicker from Zachary.

"Ha! You're too late!" Only a few more minutes, and this baby goes off!" He pointed to the suitcase that sat next to Larry's feet. "It either goes off in city hall- or it goes off here! You take your pick- it's either us, or them!" Rippen shouted, his tone dripping with hatred and venom, slight pride in the depths of his chest as he saw the building coming into the view as Penn had pointed out. Zachary clenched his teeth, letting go of a deep breath. He tucked his weapons away, earning confused glances from everyone on the train. With his hands free, he lifted one to keep pressure on his still bleeding, deep wound that had now covered most of his shoulder and upper-arm in crimson.

"A hero isn't a hero without taking a risk or two..." Zachary breathed out, taking a running dash towards where the bag with the bomb sat.

"Zac- No!" Penn called, reaching out to grab the boy as he ran. He thought Zachary was going to grab it and jump... not expecting the boy to fall, sliding a a foot-or-so across the metal of the train top, kicking the suitcase so it was sent off the side of the train, falling off the side that wasn't covered by the mountain-side. Once he sent the weapon flying, Zachary wasted no time in pulling his dress back down- the attire sliding up quite a bit as he slipped across the surface of the train.

"No!" Rippen shouted. Falling and reaching uselessly to grab the suitcase.

The leather case landed harmlessly in the middle of a large, green part of land. The only life being dried up plants, the nearby highway was empty.

Larry and Rippen both tried their best to run down the train, trying to find a safe place to jump off to retrieve their weapon of distruction.

"You alright?" Penn finally stood, joining the brunette where he stood. Zachary waited a few more seconds, drew a gun, then shot the bomb. The suitcase exploded in a massive lightshow of flame and disturbed earth. Both Larry and Rippen instantly stopped running, still on the train so they were far enough away to not be harmed by the blast.

"I'm in an extreme amount of pain." Was all Zachary replied with before they were zapped back to the Odyssey. Penn catching on last sight of the boy's glove and arm- both drenched in blood from the gash.


	24. Chapter 24: Ruby

"I hope you all enjoy beautiful day." Was Phyllis's greeting, catching the team slightly off guard.

"Well, it _was_ pretty nice, actually. I mean, the temperature is perfect for icecream- maybe a trip to the beach..." Penn started.

"I don't care. Prepare for freezing lifeless winter." Phyllis cut him off, sending the dream team to their mission.

"Problem?" She questioned, seeing that Zachary hadn't zapped himself in. He just stood there, staring at the portal with slight disgust.

"Well, I don't know about you. But I don't really like the cold..." He started, unenthusiastically reaching into his pocket to pull out his transporter.

"If you don't go, you're fired." Phyllis stated simply, taking a long sip from her coffee.

"Well! On the other hand I despise the heat!" Zachary nearly sang with false enthusiasm, before zapping himself in. His body taking on the shape of electricity- blue and bright, before flying into the portal's opening as he always did when his machine triggered him to travel.

* * *

Penn was alone.

He was alone, and very cold.

The world was empty- resembling a tundra that stretched on for miles down the hillside. His breath came out in clouds, and his nose stung with each intake of breath.

He was a young girl, maybe 12 or 14, wearing a simple white dress with a brown corset. His black boots sunk in the snow and refused to move with ease. His red hood and cloak were all that kept him warm. He hugged the red cape closer to his body, the crimson fabric doing surprisingly well at keeping him warm.

Nobody seemed to be around for miles, he thought about calling to his friends. But he knew his echoes would only be answered back by the harsh and loud whistling of the wind, drowning out every sound he heard.

"-enn!"

He caught the sound just as the wind died down, immediately picking up again and rustling the trees of the woods that stood behind him, he hadn't even noticed the plethora of trees until that moment.

He would've much preferred heading down to the village at the bottom of the hill, the small houses giving off smoke from fires that sat inside. Each building looking cozy, safe, and well-populated. But the trees- or something in the trees- called to him. So he set off, his red cloak flowing in the breeze, and a basket clutched in his hand and close to his body to keep the contents under the white blanket safe from the elements.

Inside the forest seemed... warmer. Although it was dark, the trees stood tall and blocked out the harsh wind. The gusts coming as nothing more than howls and a muffled song as the trees filtered them out. He stepped cautiously, focusing on his path and the crunch of the leaves, the _squish_ of ones soaked by puddles of melted snow. Only a few flakes made it down through the treetops to coat the branches and fallen logs.

He hopped over rocks, crossing cautiously over a semi-frozen stream. The water rushing by in the thin crack between the two sides, the occassional cluster of debris being swept away with the force of the flow. Penn had almost forgotten about finding his friends- or the voice calling him- as the scenery caught him up in a flurry of wonder.

"Penn!" He jumped slightly at the call.

"Penn!" He knew the voice as Zachary's.

"Zac!?" He called, wandering slowly, hoping he was headed in the right direction.

"Penn! Is that you?" The voice called again, Penn was looking straight ahead- unable to see any shapes of an animal or human. He saw a clearing though, thinking the anti-hero was possibly there, having sight of Penn's cloak.

"Wait where you are! I'll come to you!" He shouted, jumping over more rocks and discarded branches. He stumbled a few times over sunken ground and puddles of mud that threatened to slip him up or grab hold of his boots.

"Zachary?" Penn asked, rather silently as he made his way to the clearing. The snow coming down on his hood, coating him in a layer of melted flakes and spots of water. Did he go the wrong way? He saw nothing of the anti-hero... but he felt... watched. An oddly familiar feeling, back when all he knew of the brunette were teal an gold eyes that made him feel hunted, like prey under the foot of a predator.

So he turned, slowly, seeing a shockingly large shape.

A wolf was staring him down, ruffled (but oddly clean) brown fur covering the beast's huge and muscled body. The animal must've been over five feet tall standing on all fours- much taller than Penn's current form. The animal walked forward, urging a startled step back from Penn.

The beast blended in almost perfectly with the scenery. Brown fur nearly matching the trees, the markings of white on its stomach, the lower part of all four legs, tip of the tail, shoulder, and haunches blending with the snow. The lower part of its face and muzzle also featured white fur, as well as the inside of its ears. Ears which were flattened to its head, the head being lowered to the ground. Penn unsure if it was readying to attack or... submitting?

He noticed the tail drooped between the legs, much like nervous dogs he'd seen. When he met the sight of the eyes, he felt the chill of the weather leave his body, replaced with comfort that his friend was there.

"You really do have to be taller than me all the time, don't you?" Penn sighed, shaking his head slightly, earning a smile and a tail wag from the huge wolf.

"Not my fault." Zachary chimed, picking up into a skip and approaching Penn, his shadow covering the boy completely. Penn kept his eyes locked on the beast as the wolf stepped behind him, almost curling around him, even lifting his tail slightly as a way to hold the hero close to him.

"Have you found the others?" Zachary asked, letting his weight drop, laying down on the snowy ground. Penn zoned out for a moment, appreciating the heat that the other boy was giving to him in the freezing air.

"No. I was gonna go and check the village at the bottom of the mountain- but I heard you and came running." Penn sat down, appreciating that Zachary instinctively wrapped his tail around the boy like a blanket.

"You think they may be down there?" The wolf blinked, forcing himself not to close his eyes to take a nap.

"Hm... maybe." Penn sighed, leaning back and regretting that the two of them might have to set out in the wind and cold.

They both fell silent for a moment, thinking about how to find their friends.

"It couldn't hurt to check anywhere in town- maybe they were thrown into a pub or an inn." Zachary suggested, yawning, giving Penn a good look at his huge jaws and jagged teeth, all sharpened like high quality blades of ivory. He moved his tail as a signal for Penn to get up, after the boy stood, all he did was adjust- so instead of resting on his side, he had his feet tucked under him in a four-legged squat. Penn quirked a brow, wondering why the anti-hero wasn't standing. "Come on." Zachary jerked his head, motioning for the hero to climb on. Penn hesitated, slowly stepping forward with his basket on his arm and gripping the wall of thick, brown fur. His fingers instantly warmed as they were tangled into Zachary's coat. Penn gave a squat, then jumped, using his grip to pull himself up all the way, taking a few moments to adjust on the back of the wolf.

This was much different than riding horses and dinosaurs- also much warmer, and softer.

Zachary stood, Penn loosing his balance slightly and falling foward, wrapping his arms around the wolf's neck, burrying his arms, hands, and face into the thicker and slightly darker fur.

The ride through the forest was smooth, Zachary purposefully walking to avoid tripping, and letting Penn get used to riding on his back- but as soon as the trees thinned out into nothingness and a clear mountain side- filled with barely marked snow- he set off into a bound. Picking up speed as gravity took hold of him and dragged him down the further declining and steepening mountain. Penn held in his screams, simply choosing to bury himself further into the thick fur of the canine to hold on and block the snow from his face. He could feel the basket on his arm jumping and jostling with each step Zachary took, he almost feared the blanket would fly away- revealing and loosing the contents in the process.

But the ride became ever so slightly smoother when Zachary chose to stop his running, instead sliding down the moutain and through the snow, howling in joy as he turned the trip into a game of steadiness and speed for himself. He managed to find his balance, staying upright as he slipped and slid through the snow and down the mountain-side like a sled.

Penn found his courage, straighening his back ever so slightly, looking out to the scenery and placing his basket between his legs to hold it better.

It was a beautiful sight.

The sky was cloudy, like a sea of smoke and mist. The village below looked even cozier than ever now that Penn had rested and practically flown through and against the biting winds and chilling snowfall.

Zachary took to running again, Penn immediately digging his fingers into the fur and tightening his grip, head turning forward to watch the path. With his eyes shut halfway to protect from the rush of snow in the air, he watched as stumps and rocks flew by and under the beast he rode, the occassional tree flying by as they descended quickly. The bottom of the mountain seemed close, leading to another gathering of trees- this one seperated into two halves by a road that connected the village with whatever civilization was on the other side of the mountain or around the area.

The dirt road was under Zachary's paws before either of the males knew it, the wolf taking a few extra steps to slow his speed and ending up a few feet into the woods that took up the other side of the road.

Penn dismounted, his feet coming into contact with much drier leaves. The wind and snow down at the base of the mountain had lightened up quite a bit, giving the area even more of a peaceful feel.

The road wasn't too busy, they only saw one person on it. A man with a carriage being pulled by a large, black beast. Its tongue hung out of it's mouth, drool dripping from its jaws. As it walked, its eyes focused on the duo as they exited the gathering of trees.

"Whoa! Hey!" The man on the carriage scolded when the beast growled at Zachary, the anti-hero cowering back, unsure whether it was a threat or an attempt to initiate play. The animal refocused on the road, walking to the tiny town. Penn would've called it a huge, black dog, if it weren't for the hooves and the rat-like tail it had.

"Odd crowd..." Was his only comment, waving slightly to signal Zachary to walk along side him.

This obviously wasn't a normal village. All sorts of people wandered around in anything from tattered to dapper clothing. A few of the humanoids featured wings, others had spots of scales and long lizard-like tails. The humans seemed to interact with them nicely, some of them standing in the company of odd looking pets. The one that caught Penn's attention the most was a human woman standing next to a post. A perch of sorts, with a huge black bird on it. It's red eyes were pupil-less, and it's tail slithered, the limb featuring a snake's head and seeming to have a mind of it's own as it tried to grab a berry from a man walking by with a basket of fruits on his head. Throughout the entire walk, Zachary cowered behind the hero, trying to take up as little space as possible with his massive body. He noticed most of the critters were bipedal, nearly his own height. he felt the eyes crawling over his skin, a sense of anxiety rushing up and down his spine everytime he met eye contact. Any beast resembling his form was tied up to a post like a horse, or attatched to a carriage and left out in the cold while their masters feasted in bars and diners.

"Penn! P-... Penn!" Penn turned his head to the call, immediately seeing a form that could've been Sashi waving at him through the crowd. She jumped to gain some extra height, forcing her way through the crowd with threats and curses before stumbling out before the two boys, Boone following in the path she'd made.

She appeared to be a harpy. A fluffy, feathered tail stuck out from a long brown jacket that covered her shoulders. The sleeves cut off to make room for her wings, long feathers hanging off of her arms, her hands sticking out at the second bend of her wings, clawed and covered in a light layer of fur. She also seemed to have matching feathers, brown, around her neck and poking out the top of her white tunic.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Boone added, his own form resembling the lizard-people Penn had seen earlier. His hair was white and flattened down neatly, his attire seeming fancy with a vest and tie. He must've replaced someone of high wealth.

"Can we just figure out what the mission is and get out of here..." Zachary urged, lifting his head from his slouch only for a moment to take a nervous look around at the crowd- the wolf still earning looks from the surrounding crowd.


	25. Chapter 25: Puppydog Scuffle

"Our mission seems pretty simple. We just need to deliver Penn's basket to his sick grandmother, while avoiding the big bad wolf." Sashi spoke, at the mention of wolves, the team all instinctively looked at Zachary, who noticed and shied away from their glances ever so slightly.

"I may be big, but I can promise you I'm the equivilent of a teddy bear." He defended, resting his head on his massive, fluffy paws as he lay beside the table that the team took at the pub, the only one in the village that would let the team in with their wolf-ish companion, might I add.

"So, I'm just Little Red Riding Hood with a cooler group of friends?" Penn crossed his arms, leaning back and raising a brow.

"Pretty much." Sashi stated.

"What's this big bad wolf gotta do with anything, anways?" Boone questioned, grabbing a handful of the free breadsticks at the table and shoving them into his mouth. A forked tongue flicked in and out of his lips happily after he swallowed the contents.

"My guess is he wants what you have in the basket." Sashi suggested, pointing to the item that sat nicely next to Penn.

"Maybe he wants to eat your grandmother." Boone gasped. "Just like in the story!" He added.

"Well, if we do run into him, I'm sure I can chase him off with a doggy fight." Zachary commented, yawning drowsily.

"Yeah, if you don't fall asleep first." Penn said, smirking slightly and earning an eye-roll from the beast that sat beside him.

"I hear ya three are lookin' for the big bad wolf?" A plump human woman with a high voice approached their table, rusty tray in hand and filled with empty beer steins.

"Uh, yeah. Sort of. We're more... avoiding him." Sashi answered, picking up a breadstick and biting a chunk off of it.

"Oooh, goodluck out there to the three of ya. He's a nasty fellow, I tell ya." She shook her head. "Just last week he raided a farm down the road. Took all the chickens- the farmer saw 'im do it, too. ' _Took 'em all out in one big bite_ ' he says." She said. "So ya best be careful, ya hear me?" With the final word she reached into her pocket, grabbing what must've been some old fashioned dog treat, and dropped it on the floor in front of Zachary- earning a jump of surprise from the wolf. Who sniffed at the parcel, then happily ate it up. It was a dried up lump of jerky- not too bad... a little stale, but Zachary still enjoyed it rather thoroughly. Before walking away she gave them a final. "Ya better heed my warning, ya hear me?"

"She's talkative." Sashi commented, running fingers through the feathers around her neck, plucking out a few to keep the arrangement neat and even lengthed.

"Well... now that we have a warning. I think it's safe we head out. Better to not sit around basically _waiting_ for Rippen to come and try to eat me alive." Penn commented, picking up his basket and sliding out of his seat, mindful not to step on Zachary at all.

The crowd seemed to have thickened since they entered. People were plenty more drunk. Hugging and singing in slurred voices. If it weren't for the fact they had a huge wolf- the team probably never would've made it through and out the door.

"So, do we know where this lady's house is?" Penn asked, hoping that Sashi had a map on hand with their mission info. She simply shrugged and shook her head.

"No clue. Sorry." She sighed. Penn grumbled something about their situation being perfect, not noticing that the team's two brunettes had wandered off. Him and Sashi continued to plan- maybe splitting up would work? He suggested Sashi try flying up to get an aerial view- but that could just lead them to searching for random houses in the woods.

Boone busied himself with making a snowball, Zachary choosing to roll in the snow- when he stood he had clumps of white sticking to his fur. Just as he shook off the snow, Boone took aim and fired.

Zachary yelped slightly, feeling a stinging in the side of his face. He glared up, locking his sight on a giggling Boone who panicked upon realizing he'd been seen. He scurried and took a dive behind a bush.

The wolf let his body drop close to the snow-covered ground. Slinking and crawling to where his target hid. Boone took a glance out, only seeing his two humanoid friends still planning out, not noticing the brown-and-white mass sneaking up behind him. Zachary barked, scaring the wiseman who gave out a shriek and ran for it.

"Guys! Can you focus!?" Sashi shouted, rubbing her temples. Zachary sat, his head and ears drooping with a whine.

"We can't help it." Boone shrugged in an attempt to defend their play. "You guys seemed to be doing okay with the whole planning thing... so..." Boone started, avoiding eye contact and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

The bickering eventually devolved back to planning, the conversation still excluding the huge wolf, who tried to back away to check out the area- his tail still hanging low between his back legs. He felt slightly guilty- being snapped at and scolded for not paying attention.

"Oh. What a cute pup you are~"

Zachary yelped and ran back to his friends, diving and attempting to hide behind Penn.

A huge wolf walked into the scene. He didn't look too different from the anti-hero. He was brown in colour, but his fur took on a blacker hue on his back. His fur was an absolute mess- truly showing his 'wild-side'. The most noticable thing? This wolf was bipedal- and had an easily recognized british accent.

"Rippen..." Sashi hissed. All eyes then fell as a rather tiny, plump fox trotted up beside the huge mammal.

"Hey Larry." Boone greeted, earning a wave back from the fox.

"So, this is the basket I'm looking for?" Rippen took long strides towards Penn, proceeding to reach out towards the basket when he was close enough. Penn pulled away and scowled.

"Come on, boy. Your guard dog is a complete pussy-cat. Just make this easier and hand ov-" Rippen tried to continue, cut off by the sound of jaws snapping together. He barely managed to pull his hand away from being clenched between the teeth of the smaller wolf.

Zachary strode out from behind Penn, his lip raised and a fierce look in his eyes as he seemed to be hunting the part-time villain.

Rippen barked back, a harsh growl. He fell to all fours, a line of fur on his back raising in anger.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hey!" Penn cut-in, not wanting there to be any bloodshed. Zachary backed up slightly, obeying the call of the redhead. This gave Penn room to slip in between the wolves, putting his hands up to Rippen. "Come on. Back off. We don't want any trouble."

Rippen's jowls continued to shake with his growling. He tried to take a swing at Penn, the redhead throwing up his hands in defense. Zachary immediately lifted his own paw to block the shot- the two of them getting into a bit of a puppy slap fight. Eventually both of them were standing on hind legs- staring each other down and growling angrily. Now that Zachary realized he could stand bipedally he was only a foot or so shorter than Rippen.

"Guys!" Penn whined, squeezing in between the two beasts again, he wrapped his arms around Zachary's waist and struggled to push him back- his feet slipping in the snow more than him making progress in pushing. Zachary felt the pressure of the boy- then stepped back on his own. Rippen huffed.

"I'll say this again. Hand over the basket, and I won't snap anyone's necks." Rippen bared his teeth, earning a glare from each of the heroes.

"We already told you, scram you mangy mutt!" Sashi cut in, trying to shoo the canine away with her wings. Rippen's ears flattened to his head and he snapped at the bird-girl, who squawked in response and flapped her wings rapidly lifting herself into the air above Rippen's head. He took a kick to his forehead before letting herself fall a few feet back.

"Alright. Have it your way..." He dusted off his forehead, knocking away bits of snow and dirt that had come off of Sashi's foot. "We'll get that basket one way or another..." The villain fell back to all fours before taking off in a bound to the woods.

"Toodle-loo!" Larry chimed before following. "We'll tell Granny you said hi!" The last sentence striking fear into the hearts of the heroes.

Boone gasped. "They're gonna eat Granny!" His voice was heavy with panic.

"They must've just come here to taunt us- they know where the old lady is!" Penn spoke. "We have to get moving!" He waved his friends towards the woods as he took off after the wolf and fox duo. Zachary caught up, pushing his head between Penn's legs and lifting him so the hero came to a rest on the wolf's back.

"It'll be quicker this way." The wolf spoke over his shoulder, not noticing the blush that laced Penn cheeks as he'd just had a dog shoves its face up his skirt. Zachary looked back, watching as Boone hopped onto his back as well, he could've carried Sashi as well, there was plenty of room.

"I'm good. I think I finally got this flying thing down." She gave her arms a few hard flaps, lifting her feet of the ground.

"If you say so Sweet-beaks." Zachary snickered at Sashi's glare, both from the nickname and the pun.

* * *

"So, what are we bringing Granny?" Larry questioned, tilting his head slightly as he struggled to keep pace with the massive wolf. Rippen rolled his eyes eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"For the last time, Larry. We _aren't_ visiting _our_ grandmother, and we aren't bringing her any gifts. The mission is to steal Penn's basket, then possibly eat the old lady if we have the time." The part-time villain explained for the millionth time. Growing rather sick of Larry's friendly attitude.

"Well... that doesn't seem very nice..." Larry's ears dropped and he slowed down slightly, resuming to pick up the pace after a few seconds.

"That's the point. We're villains. We aren't nice." Rippen rolled his eyes, beginning to wonder how Larry even qualified for this job, and how the poor man had been so unlucky as to get him for a minion.

"Still doesn't mean we can't-"

"Yes it does." Rippen interrupted, trying to pick up his pace to speed ahead- ending the conversation.

* * *

At this point Penn was pretty used to riding on the back of the wolf- Boone on the other hand had to keep his arms wrapped tightly around Penn for security. Zachary's fur wasn't as thick near Boone as it was on the neck, so the boy didn't have much to grab onto- his fingers would usually slip right out of the fur with each bump.

Sashi flew down lower, dodging the trees swiftly with struggling grace.

"Rippen and Larry are-" She yelped as she narrowly dodged a branch. "-are getting closer! I saw a cottage in the distance. Larry and Rippen are going to have to cross a river." She took another dodge, near falling out of the air to avoid crashing. "But I saw a thinner part that we should be able to jump across!" She looked to the left, vaguely giving instructions as best she could. "Rippen and Larry will be busy swimming and trying not to be swept away, that'll give us the chance to catch up and take the lead!" She reported.

"Alright! Thanks, Sash." Penn gave her a salute with the hand that wasn't clutching the basket. "Try and hang around near them in case you need to distract them."

"Rodger that." Sashi nodded, flapping her wings and flying up high again- glady taking on the task as this gave her the open-air to glide without risk of hitting anything. She spotted the villain and minion racing through the woods, doing her best to fly faster to keep pace with them.

Boone fought back a yelp as Zachary suddenly took a sharp left, running deeper into the woods at an angle. The path didn't seem to be nearly as clean and simple. Meaning there were plenty of jumps and dodges to jostle the boys.

"H-hey... Zac! Could you maybe take it easy..." Boone requested, feeling slightly queasy.

"Right! Sorry! Got carried away- I haven't done stuff like this in a long time..." He thought back to a few missions with his old team...

He didn't slow his pace at all, but he did try to take smoother turns and kept his leaping to a minimum- the last thing he wanted was for his lovely coat to be covered in lizard vomit.

Zachary spotted the river coming up, Sashi was correct about its varying width. He took a glance to the right, seeing Rippen pacing slightly by the bank. Larry was cowering back a few feet. Penn spotted Sashi watching from a tree, waiting for any moment she may need to strike to push the villains back in.

"Hold on." The anti-hero warned, his steps changing from quick, to long leaps as he prepared to clear the river. Penn and Boone both obeyed, grabbing with tight grips to anything they could to stay on the wolf's back. Everyone held their breath as Zachary took the final leap, sending his body flying to the other side of the river. His back feet barely made it to the bank, a few rocks and peices of earth falling off.

The team heard a shout, all looking to Rippen who must've spotted them getting ahead. Without another thought the villain reached back to take Larry's nape between his fangs, not hesitating to jump into the rushing water. He struggled, but he managed to swim across- half kicking at the bottom to propel himself better.

"We've gotta get going!" Penn gave light kicks to Zachary's side, knocking the boy from his stare.

"You guys go on ahead. Sashi!" Zachary leaned down, signalling for the boy's to slip off as he called for Sashi. She flew over and landed delicately.

"What is it? Why aren't you three getting ahead?" Sashi asked, Zachary gave his body a shake when the boy's didn't hop off. The motion caused them both to topple a bit, so they decided jumping off was their best option.

Zachary didn't answer or move, simply watching with held breath as Rippen dropped Larry onto dry ground. He tried to pull himself up, only to have the ground break off- sending the wolf tumbling through the water. His head constantly being pulled under with only flailing paws breaking the surface.

So Zachary broke off into a sprint against his friend's protests. With a leap he cleared Larry, bounding to keep up with the other canine.

While the river was fast, Zachary had the determination to be faster. Lucky for him, Rippen had the determination to stay alive- so he'd tried catching several rocks and roots, this giving Zachary the chance to catch up and eventually pass him. And that's what he did.

With a few feet between him and the drowning villain, he stopped and planted his feet firmly, reaching his head out with jaws open, hoping that his timing would be spot-on. Most of this depended on Rippen keeping his head above water.

The part-time villain came up quickly, his head coming up for almost a second- Zachary took the chance and caught his nape in his jaws. The water and the weight of Rippen fought against him, but he kept his paws solid to the earth, pulling with all his might to drag Rippen upwards.

"I-I don't need your help!" Rippen argued but didn't struggle, not wanting to be released- but wanting to keep his pride. Zachary clenched his teeth harder, pulling and growling.

Rippen managed to catch enough footing to give himself a few pushes towards the other dog, helping in saving himself.

Zachary didn't release his grip until Rippen was out of the water and collapsed on the ground. The teenager joined him, trying to catch his breath next to the villain.

"You... you... saved me..." Rippen panted, trying to catch his breath. He couldn't really believe it. This boy had spent so much time tormenting him in-and-out of missions. The two of them had tried to kill each other plenty of times- Rippen even temporarily succeeding once or twice. Zachary had held a knife to the man on _several_ occassions and had threatened to do several violent acts to him, alot of these threats involved castrating him.

"Of course I did, dumbass." Zachary spat. "You may be on the opposing side- but I'm not heartless." Rippen tried to respond, but opted to stay quiet.

"You know... I don't hate you." Zachary finally spoke up. "I mean, yeah. You're a douche-nozzle. But I don't hate you." The teenager admitted, his legs shaking as he stood- giving himself a shake to remove the snow and moisture from his fur. With one last look, he trotted off- leaving the villain on the snowy ground.

"Rippen! Rippen!" Larry bounded over a few minutes later, skipping a few times when he spotted his boss in the snow. He shoved his nose under Rippen's neck to try and lift him. "Come on! We gotta get going- the heroes are on their w-"

Rippen cut him off. "I... I'm rather tired. I think... I need to rest a bit..." He faked passing out, rather dramatically falling over with a huff. While the down-time was nice, he could've easily gotten back up to win. But... it didn't feel right. He figured he'd at least give the children a head start.

And it was a head start they took. Zachary only stopped next to his friends long enough for the three of them to climb on- breaking into a sprint before they'd even fully seated themselves. The sudden motion caused Boone to nearly fall back- Sashi having to hook her claws into his shirt to keep him up.

"There it is! The cottage!" Penn pointed vigorously, almost bouncing up and down where he sat. The heroes all prayed they'd come across the right house and weren't about to just break into some random old woman's house and give her a basket.

"Is there a tag or anything on the basket?!" Sashi called her question- he voice almost cut off by the winds that rushed by the team. Penn dug his hand under the blanket- careful not to let it fly away. He felt around, feeling several wrapped parcels, most of them crinkling like paper or plastic. His fingers finally came into contact with what felt like a slip of paper.

"Granny Joanna!" Penn called back, reading the name off the tag that was tied to the basket with a strand of twine. Sashi pointed past Penn's head to a mailbox up ahead, resting about twenty feet in front of the house.

'JOANNA SMITH' It read in large, easy to read letters. The team all cheered upon their victory, Zachary letting out a joyous howl as he ran. His stop was sudden, almost throwing the children as he skid to a halt.

"Go on. I don't want to give the old lady a heart attack because a wolf is with her grandchild..." Zachary panted, letting his team mates climb off and onto the ground. Penn wasn't in too much of a rush, taking on a skip to embrace his role. He had just passed the mailbox when the leaves rustled and twigs- no. _Branches_ broke. Zachary had barely enough time to dodge the massive beast that was Rippen as he came flying out of the woods. Larry followed a few feet behind, running past and taking on the the job of chasing Penn, leading the boy away from the door so he couldn't deliver the basket.

"R-Rippen!?" Zachary growled, feeling slightly betrayed. He couldn't blame the man, though. This _was_ his job.

"You may have saved my life, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you win." He snapped at the other canine, who yelped and stood up on his hind legs to avoid his front paws being removed by strong jaws.

Penn tried to take a step away from Larry and hop around him- but the fox was too quick. He snapped at Penn's ankles. The redhead's eyes fell to the fight. Watching as Zachary dodged and ducked under the attacks from the bigger beast.

"Dude!" Sashi snapped, ripping the basket away from Penn's hands. Without another word she chucked it through the window with enough force to break the glass.

Zachary took a dive, claws and teeth out to attack Rippen.

The team heard a muffled and panicked "Oh dear!" From within the lady's cottage just before they were zapped away. The heroes barely taking victory as theirs.

* * *

Back at the Odyssey, Phyllis watched as the original team came back as gracefully as ever. Her eyes barely fell to Zachary as he came out of his attack- baring his teeth like a dog. His face barely had a second to change as he realized they were back home. The anti-hero came through with his pounce- but instead of meeting snow and another wolf, he was simply met with sliding across the carpet inside the theatre. The team all fought back laughs as the brunette groaned, not bothering to lift his face from the floor where he landed.


	26. Chapter 26: Domesticated

Aunt Rose and Uncle Chuck were very unhappy with the boys. They didn't know what to expect from Zachary, as they'd only known him for a few months as a bit of a charity case, homeless and injured- but from Penn, they knew he wasn't the one to get into trouble like this. He'd gotten a few notes home (all from Rippen) talking about poor behavior. But this? This was new.

The team had been granted the lucky luxury of spending their whole sunday doing work around the school and park. Rippen was happy to grant them their punishment, much less happy after finding out he'd be watching them.

Meaning Phyllis and Phil were missing their villain and heroes- leaving the elders to do the missions on their own, sparking up their old rivalry again.

"Alright, you four. I don't want to be here anymore than you do, so how about we all keep quiet and get to work? Hm?" Rippen rubbed at the bridge of his nose, knowing he'd have a headache after the long day, feeling relieved he'd restocked the pain-meds he kept in his car at all times. Usually an emergency stash that he kept in the event that Larry wanted to talk about something.

The teenagers all sighed before giving unique reactions. Penn rolled his eyes. Boone yawned. Sashi grumbled something under her breath, refusing to look at the man. Zachary had actually fallen _asleep_ where he stood. Rippen noticed the swaying boy, a line of drool rolling down his chin. The other three watched the man approach him, all wanting to speak up, but their curiousity to see how this would play out got the best of them so they stayed silent and watching.

Rippen cleared his throat quietly, not wanting to wake the boy.

" **WAKE UP, YOU SORRY** _ **WANKER**_ **!"** Rippen's shout nearly echoed through the city park, a couple of birds panicked and flew from the trees. Luckily, no families were at the park at eight in the morning to react to the man's scolding.

Immediately after the shout, Zachary yelped- extremely startled- and flailed before falling to the ground with a hard _thump_ \- the back of his skull obviously hitting solid dirt.

Rippen got a piece of the headache as well, Zachary's freak-out leading to a fist striking the teacher in the chin. The man had the luck of biting his tongue, leaving his jaw in pain and his tongue coated in the taste of copper.

Zachary steadied himself, looking up to see Rippen spit on the ground, the saliva mixed with blood from his injury.

"Shit, sorry bro." The boy chuckled and shrugged, ignoring the throbbing pain in the back of his head, which quickly desolved into a nasty headache deep in his brain. Rippen gave the boy a look of distaste before turning and making his way to the setup he'd made at a nearby picnic table. A cloth covering the cement table, with a thermos and container pulled out to hold a plentiful amount of tea and his breakfast.

"You'll all work until this park is clean! Then we'll head back to the school for the rest of your punishment!" Rippen hissed, drinking the tea and flinching as the hot liquid rolled over his injured tongue.

"You alright?" Sashi asked, offering a hand to her fallen comrade, who was now nursing and holding the back of his head, the tender flesh screaming to not be touched.

"I'm fine..." He took her hand, staying rather quiet through his injury. The brunette was standing vertically with a simple tug, picking his tools up from where they leaned against a tree before he set off to his 'corner' of the park.

It's safe to ask why the students were in detention, none of them knew the source of the mishap, so the blame was thrown on all of them- purely due to the fact they had horrible timing.

The end result involved several frogs, rats and a snake being released into the school, the science lab was coated in a thick layer of chemicals. Plenty of which landed on Rippen. He would've been sent into a fit of rage if his rant hadn't been cut short half way due to the intense burning of the chemical splatter on his skin, hair, and clothes. And to tie the whole mishap off as being _extremely_ strange, underneath the layer of burning foam, the floor was covered in (slowly melting) rainbow coloured balls- ones you'd find in a ball pit. Finally, although it wasn't close to the science lab mishap, the floor of the home ec room was coated in pancake batter- far too much for a normal breakfast. The mess was likely _somehow_ connected to the chemical-and-ball mess.

Rippen planned to ask for their stories, wanting to punish the true perpetrator, but he wanted to punish the whole team first. Mostly because he hated them, but also because they were the ones caught up in the crime, so there couldn't of been too much harm in making all four suffer.

He'd found Penn huddled under a table in the lab to avoid being covered in the mess of chemicals, the only thing with him were uncoated plastic balls.

Zachary was found barely conscious in the home ec room, his entire body covered in splatters and smears of the batter. He had a nasty scrape on the side of his head- so the school nurse had been called to check him out before punishment was given and parents/guardians were called.

Sashi had been an interesting find. She was with Boone. The boy had a bag, filled with a few plastic balls thrown over his shoulder, Sashi's hands were full of the loose critters. Rats and frogs all struggled to escape her grip, managing to do so when Rippen dragged her and Boone by the arms to the principal's office.

* * *

Sashi stabbed angrily at several pieces of trash, piling up two cigarette boxes, a napkin, and a box from a package of chocolates on the end of her stick. Boone felt himself nearly vomit as he picked up a half-rotten banana peel off the ground with a gloved hand.

"I don't get why I'm here! I'm innocent!" Sashi swore under her breath. Swearing she had no relation to the mishap.

"I was just doing my _thang_..." Boone grumbled only loud enough for himself to hear. "I don't get why I got in trouble!"

"This is ridiculous..." Penn muttered, scraping dried up gum off of benches that stood around the park. "I didn't do anything!" The lump of pink he'd been prying off finally gave, falling to the bag Penn had opened and set on the ground under his work area. He scrunched his nose in disgust, giving a few final scrapes to remove any left over flecks of chewing gum.

"This is injustice I tell you!" Zachary kicked at a tree, angrily stabbing a beer can and dropping it into the bag he carried. He continued ranting to a nearby pigeon. "I got caught in the middle of a huge mess- and I'm blamed for it! This always happens!" He rubbed at the side of his head which had been scraped in his fall.

Rippen watched, amused as each of the students obviously stomped around, upset with what they were forced to do.

"You know what they say. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." Rippen chuckled to himself, drinking from his tea, the liquid cooled slightly and causing _much_ less pain to his tongue. He swallowed the beverage, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the cream he'd been given to treat his chemical burns.

* * *

Each student was far too tired to continue working- out of luck due to the fact that their punishment still had another five hours. Rippen had been strangely kind enough to give them all rides to the school after they deposited their trash bags into the garbage bins near the park- he'd also made each of them sanitize their hands before coming anywhere near his car.

The ride was quiet, Rippen humming along as he turned the radio up. More or less rubbing it in the face of the students that he was still getting a lot of down-time while being forced to watch over them.

Their jobs were more wide-spread at the school.

Penn was sent into the science lab to finish cleaning what the custodian couldn't do- the man running out of time after cleaning the home ec room of the batter. (and small amounts of blood from the anti-hero)

"Is... this safe?" Penn asked, concerned as Rippen turned to leave after giving him his job, along with a pair of goggles, a surgical mask, thick rubber gloves, and one of the lab coats to cover his clothing and arms.

"Hell if I know. You're the one who caused it, you clean it up. I suggest not touching it, by the way." Rippen called over his shoulder, rubbing at one of his many burns as he left the redhead to work.

"But I didn't do anything!" Penn shouted in defense, becoming more and more frustrated with each accusation. He pulled on the gloves with a loud _snap_ on each hand, frowning in the general direction of Rippen the entire time.

Sashi was put on snake duty. The science teacher managed to find most of the frogs and mice, but the snake was still a mystery. Rippen sent the girl out with nothing but a bag and a flashlight, giving her permission to enter the boiler room and various other dark spaces. She was also instructed to collect any remaining mice or frogs she found-whether they be alive or dead.

Boone and Zachary had been left to wax and mop the floor of the gymnasium.

"I want to be able to see my reflection in it!" Rippen instructed, dropping off what they'd need. As to rub salt into the wound, he made sure to scuff his shoe across the floor as he walked away, leaving a long, black mark across the linoleum. "Oops~" He chimed mischeviously.

"Oh that's it..." Zachary growled, baring his sharp teeth. "I'm wearing your organs for a necklace!" He shouted, lunging forward, only to be stopped by Boone. Although Rippen tried to play it cool, he ended up picking up the pace and tripping away rather quickly- he knew the boy was capable of very _violent_ things. Both him and Sashi were his only real threats.

"You okay now?" Boone asked, slowly releasing the heavily breathing boy, his eyes narrowed to a glare and his nose flaring with each rage filled breath.

"I'm fine, lemme go." Zachary thrashed for a moment until Boone released him. He took a final calming breath, grabbing the handle of a mop and dragging it (along with the bucket of water) across the gym to cover the other end.

* * *

"Come here!" Sashi took a dive across the cafeteria table, trying to catch a mouse she'd caught scurrying around room. It barely made it away from her grasp, she'd felt the tail slide across the side of her finger only a moment before she fully clenched her fist. She let out an annoyed huff, pushing herself up to a kneel, then ending up standing on the table for a better aerial view of the cafeteria.

The only sign of the critter she caught was the scurrying of tiny feet, and muffled squeaking. With light feet she dropped to the floor, army crawling to look under any and all tables in the large room. She saw the mouse making its way towards the open doors of the cafeteria, leading to the hallway.

"You can run! But you can't hide!" She shouted to the rodent as she hopped up to stand, stepping and leaping over the table rather than going around. Sashi picked up speed, running as fast as she could towards the cafeteria doors. She was confident she was going to catch the rat-

Or not.

Her momentum was completely cut off with a sharp "OOMPH!" coming from two parties. Both people stumbling back. Sashi opened her mouth to snap at the intrusion, stopping when she saw she'd knocked over Rippen. As much as she'd like to chew out Rippen- she didn't want to risk staying in past three, or risking another day of punishment for disrespecting the man.

"You know, I _was_ looking for Penn. But you'll do..." Rippen finally spoke when he regained himself.

"What? What do you want?" Sashi stood, taking a quick and defensive step back- afraid the man was meaning to cause harm.

"Oh, calm down. I just want to talk to you about the _incident._ " His voice carried venom on the last word. Still acting cautiously, Sashi followed the man to the art room for whatever interrogation was in order.

* * *

"Speak. Tell me everything you know about the _incident_." Rippen knit his fingers together, leaning his chin on his hands, with elbows rested on his desk. Sashi crossed her arms, a pout plastered to her lips as she slouched in the chair across from the man.

"I don't know anything!" She defended, raising her voice.

"You're lying! You were wandering around with the wiseman with an armful of vermin!" Rippen accused.

"Yeah! Because I was cleaning them up!" Sashi stood, planting her hands on her hips. Rippen opened his mouth to argue back, but instead thought for a moment.

"Clean them up, you say? Hm..." He hummed, spinning his chair slightly. "Well, may I ask what you were doing _before_ the event?" Rippen raised a brow as Sashi took her seat again, flattening out her skirt.

"I was helping the film class teacher move some stuff. Apparently he needed some supplies for the class after lunch- those supplies being around 7 bags worth of plastic ball pit balls- which were... for some reason in the gymnasium storage. He needed them for the class after lunch, and I offered to help." She told the story, fully honest.

"Then how did they end up scattered in the science lab?" Rippen furrowed his brow.

"We left the bags there because he had to take a call-"

"That doesn't explain why you were walking around with the rats and frogs." Rippen cut her off. Sashi rolled her eyes.

"You caught me with them because I walked away from the bags after seeing like, four frogs hopping around. I went around trying to catch them!" Sashi finished, crossing her arms again when she finished speaking.

Rippen hummed again. "That doesn't explain how they ended up everywhere- or how the home ec room was coated in batter. I'd also like to know the story behind the chemical explosion, and why that newest addition to your team ended up passed out and injured."

"I've got no idea about that. But... I think Penn was working on his science project during lunch to make up for classes he missed." Sashi felt bad for throwing Penn under the bus, but she really didn't want to spend anymore time around the villain.

"I see... so the hero did it!" Rippen slammed an accusatory fist down onto his desk.

"I never said that! I _said_ he _might_ know about the chemical explosion." Sashi defended her friend. "Can I go now? I still have a date with a snake."

"Alright. Alright. You're free to go." Rippen stood, walking to the door and holding it open for the girl to exit. The man walking in a different direction as her as he headed for the science lab to find the redhead.

* * *

"What do you mean I did it!?" Penn exclaimed after being forced to sit in Rippen's classroom for the interrogation.

"Your sidekick told me you were the one to ask about the explosion!" Rippen accused, walking behind Penn and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, his grip uncomfortably tight and earning a wiggle from Penn, who couldn't help grabbing the hand and trying to pry the fingers off, nearly sighing when Rippen removed himself and took to sitting in his chair behind his desk to stare the boy down. Penn rubbed at his shoulder.

"I was working on a missed project! It was going great too, there's no way it should've exploded. I had the instructions and everything! I was measuring everything out, re-reading the labels like three times before I added anything. Honest!" Penn defended, placing one hand over his heart and raising the other slightly like he was making a oath.

"Then how did it explode!?" Rippen rubbed his temples, already annoyed with the ordeal.

"I have no clue! I walked to the home ec room to ask Boone for help with finding some stuff. By the time we were done and I came back the table was a mess, and the beaker was bubbling and cracking. I just took a dive to hide." Penn explained.

"Boone was in the home ec room. Ey?" Rippen stroked at his goattee "That still doesn't explain the explosion. But, I'll move on to that wiseman friend of yours." Rippen sighed, waving Penn out of the room as he sat by himself for a bit to try and piece together the two stories he'd already collected

* * *

"Yo, Spoon." Zachary sighed, coming up with a random nickname for the wiseman. "I can't say I dislike the musical stylings of 'Boone Wiseman' but I could do with some silence." Zachary clenched his teeth, still feeling his head aching from the previous falls he'd taken in the last three days. Boone relaxed from his position- playing air guitar on his mop. Instead pouting slightly and returning to silent work- humming quietly as he did so. He slowly stopped. His mind suddenly filling with the memory of Zachary's one-on-one chat with a painting.

"Hey... bro." Boone started, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Listen, I... was thinking. This might go faster if we talk a bit!" He offered, earning a look from his companion. "Here's a random topic! Deepest fears and/or anxieties?" He asked, trying to seem as innocent as possible. He leaned against his mop, letting the rod hold all his weight.

Zachary simply sighed, letting the breath out through his nose. "I don't like the dark, spiders, glass, ice skating, and wasps." As he finished the sentence, listing his fears, he knocked the mop out from under Boone's elbow- the wiseman stumbling and nearly falling. His flailing earned the slightest snicker from the taller boy. "Sorry. Not really in the mood for truth or dare."

"Okay... how about twenty questions?" Boone suggested rather enthusiastically.

"Boondabon-" Zachary barely made it through another strange nickname before the wiseman cut in.

"Are you nervous about being a new addition to the team, and why?"

"Boone! What is this about!" Zachary finally dropped his mop, crossing his arms and tapping his foot- glaring down the boy like a disappointed mother.

"N-nothing! I just... wanted to get to know my buddy better." He tried to elbow Zachary playfully, only earning the stiff look from the anti-hero. He tried elbowing again. Zachary simply hardened his glare.

"Spit it out." He stated, kicking up his mop into his hand- pointing the end of the handle to Boone almost like a knife. Boone sighed.

"I saw you talking to the painting when you had to take over for Penn..." Boone confessed, not making eye contact- but he could see Zachary flinch and grow stiff- his face slightly redenning. If he didn't know any better he would say he noticed the boys eyes get glassy slightly as well.

"I-I... you..." Zachary started, letting the mop fall. "O-okay!" He waved his hands in front of him, mostly trying to clear his own head. "How much did you... hear?"

"I dunno..." Boone rubbed the back of his head. "You seemed pretty insecure about being a team leader. And... you said some stuff about 'the other two'." He emphasized the words with air quotes.

Zachy rubbed at his forehead, chewing his lip slightly. "Well... you're right. I was... nervous... about leading you guys. I'm not good at giving instructions! Back... back in my old work. I used to do really similar stuff that you guys do- but like, a full-time job. I was team leader, and our system usually involved splitting up. We knew each other really well! We were able to anticipate each other's moves. So I never really took charge. I just... I dunno what I did. But... I was deemed leader." Zahcary shrugged along with his confession.

"Whoa..." Boone breathed. He wasn't really surprised to hear this- as he knew the boy traveled through dimensions. "So you're like... a _full-_ time hero?"

"Yep. My work is more of a lifestyle at this point- I kind of miss it... I guess..." Zachary shrugged, sighing and putting a hand in his pocket to feel the smooth screen of his phone. "I still talk to my friends and team mates. But, I miss doing what I did. Magic and shit! This is gonna sound weird- but I miss killing stuff!" He swung the broom around like a sword, then stepping and lunging like a fencer. "This life is... weirdly _domesticated_ for me..."

"Wow..." Boone didn't really know what words to pick. Opening his mouth to speak further- stopped by the doors to the gym opening.

"Wiseman! Come with me!" Rippen demanded, beckoning Boone with a finger. The teenager tried to ask, cut off again. But, this time due to a ring tone. Zachary jumped at the sound as well. He picked it up under the eyes of Rippen and Boone.

"Hello? Deuce? Why are you-... hang on." Zachary covered the phone with his hand. "Uh... have fun. I gotta take this." He put his supplies down and speed walked to the open equipment room to try and get some privacy. Rippen tried to scold the boy, a rule being 'No phones in detention', but the brunette was already gone. He instead let his eyes fall back to Boone, giving him a look that said. 'Just you and me, come along now."

* * *

"The home ec room? Yeah. I was in there." Boone started, leaning back rather relaxed in his chair as Rippen glared at him from behind the desk.

"What do you know about the mess?" Rippen nearly mumbled, tired with asking questions to children.

"It happened during class. We were making pancakes... and I may or may not have triggered a bit of a chain reaction and got stuck cleaning up all the spills." He stated simply. Rippen waited, expecting a longer story like the other two had offered.

"And? Anything else" Rippen tried to urge the boy on.

"Hm..." Boone rubbed at his chin. "Oh! Penn asked me for help at one point. He couldn't find something so I had to help him look."

"That doesn't explain why you were with Sashi afterwards, a bag of balls with you. I was told those were supposed to be used for a film project." Rippen crossed his arms, excited that he might have a lead at long last. A gap in the story to work off of.

"Balls? Oh! Yeah. Sashi needed my help afterwards. She told me to grab a bag from the gym to help her catch a bunch of frogs and stuff." Boone explained.

"What about the balls in the bag?" Rippen raised a brow.

"It was the only bag in there." Boone shrugged, finishing his story. Rippen sighed, almost feeling defeated with the mystery. He knew of the batter, he knew why Penn was in the science lab with the explosion. He _sort of_ knew the reason behind the balls. But none of it seemed to _click_. He still needed to know about the rats and frogs and why-

Zachary.

Why Zachary was in the home ec room.

"Out!" Rippen stood rather suddenly with the outburst, startling Boone and knocking his chair back. "I need the other one! You're free to go!" Rippen ran out of the room to find the anti-hero.

* * *

By the time Rippen had made it to the gym, Zachary was already done his call. A lucky thing as Rippen didn't waste any time. He grasped Zachary around the arm with a vice-like grip, earning a few whines and complains about pain from the boy.

* * *

"Speak." He demanded once both had settled into the art room. Zachary sat in the chair, rubbing his arm, Rippen staring him down from in front of his desk. The teacher leaning against the furniture with his arms crossed and a glare plastered to his face. "Tell me everything that you did during the lunch hour on friday."

"Friday?" Zachary began thinking back. "Well... I wanted to get lunch with Penn... but Matilda asked for my help." He began the story.

"Matilda?" Rippen questioned, not recognizing the name. It didn't help he only bothered to remember the names of the students that ruined his life every day- A.K.A the part-time heroes.

"The girl with the glasses... usually wears a ponytail and a red hoodie..." he watched Rippen try to recall the description, watching the man make a face of realization as he remembered he did know the girl- he'd given her drawings of cats Fs on several ocassions.

"Alright. Go on." Rippen waved a hand.

"Okay. Matilda caught me after class and asked me for help..."

* * *

"I see you walking around with cats all the time- so... you like animals? Right?" Matilda questioned, finally letting go of the sleeve she'd grabbed to stop Zachary from leaving.

"Uh... yeah. I do love animals." Zachary answered before Penn popped back into the classroom.

"Hey, you coming? I can hear some milkshakes calling our names." He leaned against the doorway to wait for his friend.

"Sorry, I'm gonna have to skip out. Maddy needs my help..." Zachary pointed over his shoulder to gesture to the girl he was speaking with, he was turned around to talk to Penn. Penn fought off a pout.

"Alright..." He sighed. "But tomorrow, okay? No backing out."

"Fine, fine. Don't you have some stuff to catch up on instead?"

"Indeed I do. See you both later." Penn gave a little salute before skipping off to find the chemistry teacher.

"So, what do you need?" Zachary finally turned back to the shy girl.

"Well... I kind of... got stuck being asked to clean the frog and rat cages..." She fidgeted with her hoodie strings. "But I need two people for it... and I'm not really a rodent fan..." Matilda kept her eyes down, watching her shoes as she spoke.

"Yo, I can totes help you out." Zachary smiled as friendly as he could with a mouthful of jagged teeth. "I love mice and rats!"

"R-really? Thank-you!" Matilda thanked him, almost wanting to embrace the boy- but opting not to to avoid making the situation even more uncomfortable.

* * *

"We needed to move the frogs and mice from their cages, so I suggested bringing them to a bigger room so we'd have space to put all the cages- because four tanks takes up a lot of space..." Zachary told the story, moving his hands plenty as he did so. "But, just as we were leaving the science room Matilda tripped or something, and dropped the frogs. Thank god the tank didn't break, but they all got out. I put down the rats- but I guess the door of the cage wasn't on right. So they escaped while I was helping her pick up the frogs. She panicked seeing the fluffy little critters runnin' around. Panicked, and backed up into the snake's tank. I guess the top must've shifted a bit, because the next time I looked up at it, there was no snake." Zachary stopped to take a breather, also letting Rippen process the story.

"That still doesn't explain the mishap in the home ec room. How'd you end up in there?" He questioned, hoisting himself up slightly so he could instead sit on his desk top, rather than lean against the edge.

"We decided to split up, I ended up chasing a mouse into the home ec room. The place was a huge mess- but... I... my memory kind of... gives out there... I might... have tripped? I think I hit a table or something... but I ain't sure..." He shrugged, scratching at the back of his neck, slightly nervous.

"Well, I'd assume you slipped racing after whatever animal you were chasing down." Rippen suggested the most likely scenario. "But.. that still doesn't explain how the chemical incident occured..." Rippen grumbled.

"Chemical incident?" Zachary questioned, having heard nothing about that part of the story. "Oh... that... is that were you got all those burns?"

Rippen frowned. "None of your business... but... yes. Yes it is." He sighed. "So, you're saying that the Matilda girl was involved in all of this as well?"

"Yes. I'm saying that exactly." Zachary nodded.

"I'll have to wait until monday to question her... I guess... this means you and your friends are free to go. You're all innocent for the most part, and Boone already recieved whatever punishment was given to him for creating the batter mess." Rippen sighed. "I'll sign you out, now go and collect your friends and get out of my hair." He pointed to the door, Zachary spent no time hesitating in making his exit.

* * *

Monday was rather eventful, not only did Zachary finally tell his friends all about his past work in detail (leaving out the names of his team mates), explaining his work traveling between dimensions whenever his team were given a distress call or they picked up a signal, which explained why they constantly ran into Zachary in the different dimensions. He didn't leave out anything- explaining how he'd gotten into magic as well.

They also learned the whole story about the incident. The team had plenty to be surprised about that day.

After being called in to talk to Rippen, Matilda spilled everything, all her mistakes. She talked about how she accidentally let the frogs loose because she tripped over her shoelace. In the confession she told that she had tried to find the frogs, but in the process she bumped into a table. She did mention there were beakers on it, but she hadn't noticed that they were full, or that part of the setup had fallen over, resulting in a bad mixture of chemicals. It could only be assumed that this happened while Penn was distracted with Boone.

It was all a huge mistake, so no punishment could be given. Rippen didn't really care about that anymore- he was now just happy that the whole scenario was cleared up and over. He could forget about the entire confusing story- or at least he could after his scars disappeared.


	27. Chapter 27: I'm Off

"We're not gonna force you to stay here if you don't want to." Penn reassured Zachary, who he'd caught looking rather longingly at his transporter. Boone accidentally spilled the beans about how homesick the boy seemed when he'd spoken of his old team back in detention.

"I..." Zachary tried to respond.

"We know you miss your old team. Boone told us." Sashi joined in. Boone flushed slightly, put under the spotlight for attention for a few short seconds.

"Guys..." The anti-hero started again.

"It sounds like you had a pretty exciting life back home!" Penn tucked one hand into his pocket, resting the other on Zachary's shoulder. "We'll tell Phyllis that you found a way home to do a more important job."

"We'll miss you..." Sashi threw in, feeling sure the boy would take the suggestion to leave.

"You're not just trying to kick me out, are you?" Zachary questioned, slightly skeptical about the sudden suggestion. His smirk faded when he finally met Penn's eyes, seeing a slight glassy-ness threatening to come forward. "Guys..." He breathed, feeling a little emotional himself.

He couldn't say no... he was _aching_ to get home, to see his old friends again. He felt his own eyes burn a bit over the nostalgia. Sashi noticed him considering it.

"We'll miss you." She went in for a hug after repeating, her head resting against his chest.

"Stay in touch." Boone gave him a fist bump and a friendly back-pat. "I mean, I don't know if my cell service is cross-dimensional... but we can figure something out!"

Zachary turned to Penn, who took a deep breath to collect himself.

"Thanks for everything..." Zachary hugged Penn tightly, the redhead responding by burrying his head into Zachary's shoudler, arms wrapping tightly around the taller boy's neck.

"I hope we meet again..." He nodded when they stepped apart. Zachary took his transporter in his hand, tossing it up and down twice before finally taking it in a solid grip.

One last smile, he pressed a few buttons.

And he was gone in a bright blue flash.

Penn sniffled, Sashi fighting off the urge to do the same at seeing their several-month-long companion, friend, and team mate go. Boone was about to pull a tissue out of his pocket, but he stopped when the bright blue flash repeated itself behind them.

"Suckers! You're stuck with me!" Zachary came back, sliding in like he had the first day he'd arrived in Middleburg. Penn nearly choked as an arm caught him around the shoulder, the redhead mostly being an anchor to stop Zachary from sliding further.

"What? But you-" Penn began, cut off when the brunette planted a playful kiss on the corner of his mouth, both Boone and Sashi laughing when the redhead froze and his face lit up with crimson.

"Meh. As much as I miss home, I'm not done with you lot. I think there's a bit more in store for us. This... me leaving now... doesn't feel natural- like... it's not of our fates." Zachary explained, his tone growing serious as he thought about how leaving felt wrong to him.

"Well, we'll enjoy the company while it lasts." Sashi elbowed Zachary playfully in the ribs, the boy tried his best not to curl up and wince from the force of the bump.

"My only hope is that your aunt and uncle aren't sick of me yet." Zachary looked to Penn, who finally managed to calm down from the surprise kiss.


	28. Chapter 28: Play My Darling Play

_"You are to tell nobody. This stays very secret." She warned, poking a finger into the male's chest._

 _"No worries, sweetheart." He drawled. "I need this to stay a secret as much as you do." He kept his voice low and flowing slowly. A heavy tension and an aura of seriousness stuck heavy in the air, the feeling not leaving any time soon._

 _She passed him the tool. With the swipe of his hand, he caught it, tucking it into his pocket to be hidden as he turned and took his place in the center of the three markings. She flipped the triggers, sending him away. The room falling silent and dark. Tension still remaining heavy._

* * *

Penn woke up in a cold sweat. His chest heaving with each panicked breath. He brought his hands to his face, rubbing them up and down before bringing them back fully with his fingers through his hair. He gasped and jumped at the sound of his alarm clock going off seconds after he came to his senses.

"Zachary... you there...?" His voice shook after he turned the clock's blaring beeping off. He really hoped the boy would answer- it'd seem ridiculous but he was kind of scared his dream had come true.

He got no reply. He yawned, turning and stepping off the bed. With one foot on the floor, he raised the other to poke at where his friend should've been sleeping.

But, he didn't hit anything. He waved his foot around for a moment, even wiggled his toes thinking that might help.

He finally opened his eyes, seeing nothing but his own leg- foot held out over the empty mattress on the floor.

This was... weird? Zachary was never awake first on a school day. There had been the occassional time he'd woken up early on weekends and went for walks- but even that was rare. And he usually left a note...

Penn saw the boy's clothes were nowhere either. Usually he'd find the jacket or the boy's scarf piled up in a corner of the room, even when the guy was out on morning strolls he tended to walk around in his pyjamas. (Which were actually just a shirt of Penn's and a pair of briefs. The guy doesn't have much shame.)

He finaly set his way down the stairs. "Zac?" He called again.

"Oh. Good. You're up!" A voice chimed from the kitchen. Penn walked the rest of the way down the stairs, finding an odd sight when he entered the room.

Zachary was in the kitchen, standing in front of the stove with a pan in hand. He seemed to stir around with the spatula for a moment, Penn's cyan eyes locked onto the shape of a pancake being flipped. He also noticed Zachary was only wearing one of his baggy black t-shirts, the bottom of it barely covering the briefs he had chosen to be suitable covering for cooking.

"Where are Aunt Rose and Uncle Chuck?" Penn walked into the kitchen fully, standing next to the dining table. The chinchilla chittered at him before shoving a lump of cooked dough into its mouth, then proceeding to grab another pancake before running away.

"I told them I had breakfast covered for us. So they went out to get breakfast from some fancy buffet." Zachary answered. "Now sit, eat." Penn obeyed, watching as Zachary set down a plate, a high stack sitting proudly on the dish. Penn grabbed two of the pancakes, only to have Zachary flick two more onto his plate.

"Uh... don't you want some?" Penn questioned, eyeing the last three pancakes on the plate as Zachary began cleaning up. Stopping to lean against the counter before answering.

"Naw. My stomach doesn't agree with them." As he spoke he patted as his belly, reminding Penn of the boy's limited diet. Reminding him of how whenever the boy was offered food, no matter how tempting, he'd usually have to turn it down as the offered item would usually give him horrible stomach pains or it'd make him sick.

Penn silently chewed into his pancakes, only stopping for a moment when the chinchilla returned- the critter stealing the remaining three pancakes and pattering away with them as best it could under the weight of the food. As he slowly worked on the last few bites of his food Zachary revealed where his clothing had gone. He'd folded his usual garments up nicely on the chair across from Penn. He pulled the seat out and began working on putting his pants on, earning a look from Penn that he only noticed after he'd put his hoodie on and was working on shoving his arms into the sleeves of his jacket.

"Why were you up so early?" Penn questioned with his brow held high.

"I... had a bad dream..." Zachary seemed to hesitate, Penn assumed it was because he didn't want to admit he'd been scared out of slumber. He found it odd how the both of them seemed to have been woken by their minds. The brunette wrapped his scarf around his neck and pulled on his familiar watermelon patterned socks, hastily heading to the front door with his book bag thrown over his shoulder.

"Wh-where are you going?" Penn found the boy's need to leave so early kind of alarming. "It's like... 7:00 AM. School doesn't start until like, 8:30." Zachary stopped, pulling his shoes on.

"I... feel like being early today..." He mentally slapped himself a bit, thinking the day had been further in already- he had assumed it was at least 8:00. "B-besides!" He began adding. "I have errands to run! I want to... pick myself up a nice lunch!" He lied, patting at his pocket and hoping he already had money- thank goodness he did, giving him no reason to have to run back upstairs to risk things getting more awkward. "Alrightseeyoubye." He was out the door before Penn could say anything else.

* * *

"He's been acting _really_ weird." Penn explained to his friends as he took his seat. They all sat in the cafeteria for a nice Thursday lunch hour. The redhead spoke of how shady the anti-hero had become. Every morning the boy would either be making breakfast- or he'd be fast asleep next to Penn. In the cases where he was asleep he'd usually be sporting a mysterious bruise or two that looked to be badly covered up with make-up. He'd also be groggy and half-asleep the entire day. Rippen had already chewed the boy out for falling asleep in his class twice that week, only to have him doze off during the scolding. One time of which he'd been standing and ending up teetering before falling and landing face first against Rippen's chest. The teacher fumbled a bit at the sudden unconsciousness of the boy- but he quickly pushed him off and over onto the floor.

"Do you think he has some secret double life?" Boone suggested, taking a large bite out of his sandwich.

"No way. Remember? We all promised to tell each other everything. As far as I know we know all his secrets." Penn defended, not really wanting to believe his friend was possibly betraying him.

"And if you ask me, some of those things we know are better kept secrets." She shuddered, thinking about how personal the boy could get when caught up in talking to friends. Boone opened his mouth to go on, suggesting that maybe the boy _wasn't_ as honest as they thought. He'd come out of a strange portal and seemed to be hopping from dimension to dimension. There seemed to be a lot to him the trio didn't know about. For all they knew he was secretly a fugitive hiding out with the three friends and pretending to be a good guy. All that talk of previous hero work could've just been sweet lies to distract them and trick them.

"Hey. Whazzup?" Zachary slid into the bench of the table with no warning, letting himself slip down until he bumped into Penn.

"Oh, we were just... talking. About missions." Sashi cleared her throat. Zachary seemed skeptical at first, but he dismissed the feeling.

"So... just looking back on the past? Planning for future possible events?" The brunette knit his fingers together- resting his chin on the nest of digits and smiled like a teenage girl waiting for gossip. The three of them hesitated.

"Yes...?" Boone answered, seeming more of a question than an answer. Zachary quirked an eyebrow, this time unable to brush away the uneasiness of everyone. He opened his mouth to speak again.

"H-hey! So... I... think Boone and Sashi had something they needed to talk about!" Penn cut in, obviously sweating. Zachary glanced between the redhead and the other two. Sashi and Boone doing the same.

"Oh! Yeah! Private stuff!" Sashi replied, slamming both hands onto the table a little too excitedly.

"We should probably leave them in private." Penn argued, stuffing his lunch bag into his bag, standing, then proceeding to tug on Zachary's scarf to pull him along. the brunette quirked a brow again, glancing between his friends. He didn't trust the situation, but saying 'no' wasn't his strong suit so he let Penn drag him away and out the cafeteria. When the two boys were gone Sashi gave her forehead a slap, feeling almost embarrassed at their terrible lying skills.

* * *

Penn took a deep breath, finally calming down as he licked at his ice cream cone. Zachary seemed to hum happily as he walked out of the store behind Penn, his own cone in his hand.

"I wonder what Boone and Sashi are talking about..." Zachary inquired, not holding back and taking a bite out of the frozen cream. Almost purring at the taste of green tea.

"Probably important stuff." Penn shrugged it off, hoping the boy would eventually change the subject.

"Okay. I give. What's up with you guys?"

Okay not like that. Penn felt his pulse quicken, quickly taking a bite out of his treat and wincing when his teeth froze. He heard Zachary huff, a frusrated look on his face with brows knit together tightly.

"Penn." Zachary said sternly, almost baring his teeth. "Quit stalling. I know you guys were talking about me." Penn hadn't seen this side of the boy. He'd seen the hunter side of the boy, but this was weird. Possibly scarier as there was a hint of betrayal behind those eyes- the real hit was that Penn knew it was his fault. He swallowed the mouthful of melting cream, feeling the stinging of his teeth fade. Should he actually talk? What if Zac felt more betrayed learning what they were talking about? "I'll start guessing if you don't tell me."

"We were planning a party for you." Penn blurted out.

"A... party?" Zachary seemed to doubt him. Caught a little of guard by the answer as well.

"Y-yeah! We... don't know when your birthday is! So we wanted to throw you a party! It was just k-kind of going to be a vague thing. Sort of like... any birthday we may have missed mixed with a 'Happy however long you've been here' thing." Penn lied through his teeth, not even reacting when his hand movements caused him to drop his ice cream on the ground. Zachary glanced between the fallen lump and the boy, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he stared him down before breaking into a smirk- trying to cover his smile with his own icecream cone. He let out a laugh, startling Penn slightly.

"Oh, jesus! You guys had me scared. I thought you were all planning to stab me in the back or something." He hooked an arm around Penn, hugging the boy tightly as he continued to laugh- Penn joined in awkwardly.

"Pfft. That's ridiculous." Penn gave Zachary's chest a playful slap as he tugged away slightly- nervous with the closeness. He wasn't surprised that the taller boy wasn't able to feel him sweating through three layers of clothing.

"But, hey. You guys don't need to throw me a party or anything. I'm not really a party person." Zachary chuckled. "I'd prefer just... I dunno. A quiet night reading- or maybe a new book. I hate to sound ungrateful- but it'd probably be better just to call it off." He offered a weak smile. Penn didn't really know what to do, so he simply gave a weak chuckle. He looked sadly to his right, seeing his half-melted ice cream treat wasted.

"Here."

Zachary broke him out of his thoughts.

"We can share." He smiled, still holding the treat out to the part-time hero. Penn smiled and gave it a lick, finding the green tea taste to be kind of weird. His face changed to one of shock when he saw Zachary take another bite out of it without flinching at all.

"How are you doing that?" They began walking back to the school- all tension gone. "How are you not suffering at all from that?"

Zachary thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I dunno. Probably because I'm Canadian." He laughed, nudging Penn slightly. "You kind of get used to it when you breathe through your mouth in the winter a lot." Penn couldn't relate, as the winters in Middleburg were as warm and snowless as the rest of the year.


	29. Chapter 29: I Can't Feel You There

"Please tell me you guys have seen Zachary!" Penn shook Boone's shoulders, the three of them meeting up for their first class of the day.

"Did you not see him this morning?" Boone questioned once he managed to steady himself.

"Nope. Even when he's been acting weird I could usually find him in the kitchen or on the roof or something." Penn sighed, his shoulders drooping. "Do you think he found out about us talking about him...?"

"About the traitor thing?" Boone quirked a brow.

Sashi thought for a moment. "That could be possible..." She stopped. "Maybe he just needed a cross-dimension walk to cool himself down before coming to talk to us?" She suggested, knowing that Penn feared the boy was gone for good. Penn tried to force his breathing to slow, feeling his heartbeat reverberating throughout his whole body.

The day didn't become any less stressful- even Rippen seemed to notice the boy's absence through art class.

"Hopefully he'll show up before the mission today." Boone poked at his lunch- more than half of the day had now passed and there was no sight of the boy. "I don't know what we'll do without him."

Their final class eventually came, Penn had spent most of the lesson poking at Boone and begging him to text Zachary. The wiseman eventually gave in, rolling his eyes and sending Zachary a simple 'u there?'. He risked having his phone taken away- barely hiding the device in time when the teacher turned and asked Boone a question. He hid the hand holding his phone and quickly hit send before blurting out the wrong answer, earning a few chuckles from his classmates and a sigh from the teacher.

Penn didn't appear to be overly excited heading to the mission that day. The only thing worse than the hero's mood was the team's timing.

They stepped through the doors into the theatre- immediately blinded by the light of the MUT.

Their visions cleared, and what they saw...

Was Zachary, standing on the center of the platform after Phyllis lowered him.

"W... what?!" Penn exclaimed, earning startled gasps from both Phyllis and Zachary, the latter stumbling to try and step away from the platform, stumbling back and falling to the ground.

"You have seen nothing! I am simply... testing-" Phyllis started.

"You were doing missions without us?!" Sashi shouted, stomping forward. Zachary responded by scrambling backwards, keeping his head low- chin and mouth tucked into his scarf- as he kept fearful eyes locked on the girl.

"What's going on here?" Penn exclaimed towards Phyllis.

"We... we're-" Zachary tried to explain.

"Do not bother... I will tell whole story..." Phyllis said as she slid down the ladder to be on the same floor as the teenagers. "Zachary has been doing secret missions without you." She stated simply.

"When? H-how?" Boone joined in the disbelief.

"I've been coming in early every morning. Like, two or three in the A.M. early." Zachary sighed, standing up and dusting himself off. He took slow strides forward until he was up on the platform again. "Phyllis... said she had some missions that were too dangerous for you guys- so she called me to do them."

"Too dangero- too dangerous?!" Penn shouted, first to Zachary, then turning to Phyllis. "Why would you send him if you think we can't do them?"

"He has much more experience and skill." She stated, not shaking under Penn's glare. "This work is _not_ for part-time heroes."

"He is a part-time hero! We all are!" Penn argued, fighting back angry tears.

"No! _You_ are part-time heroes, he is part-time _anti-_ hero." Phyllis replied.

"That's still part-tim-"

"He is full-time _hero_! Anti-hero is part-time, hero is full-time. He works full-time, that meaning he is better for solo-missions than you." Phyllis cut the conversation off as she turned from Penn, walking away. The team all looked to Zachary, who shrank under their gaze. "Now take positions, we start _team_ mission." She climbed up to the balcony, preparing to send the team off with a firm had on the master-switch.

Zachary seemed to be hugging himself- almost shaking. He flinched as Sashi and Boone took their positions.

"That's my spot." Penn stated firmly. Zachary fumbled for a moment before stumbling out of the way- Penn pushed past him slightly to take his spot. The redhead didn't look at the brunette, keeping his glare straight ahead as the three of them were lifted and sent away.

"You go too." Phyllis ordered. Zachary's shoulders slumped. "This changes nothing, you are still part-time hero regardless of what Penn Zero says."

Zachary clutched his right arm with his left hand, unsure if it'd be okay for him to go. Would the anger effect the mission and their work? Would they get angrier having the anti-hero there?

"I know you are upset. Workplace does not require friendship. You are still co-workers. So go. Now." She demanded.

With an unsteady hand, Zachary sent himself into the mission along with his peers.


	30. Chapter 30: Somebody that I used to Know

Zachary stumbled into the world just as Sashi opened her mouth to report the mission.

The four of them appeared to be demons. Complete with horns, bat-esque wings, and tails that ended in points. Penn sent a red-eyed glare towards Zachary, his hair falling over his eyes slightly- the locks seeming to be dyed a darker colour. The red resembling a bloodier crimson.

Sashi started again without any signal.

"The angels and demons have been living in harmony for centuries, but a group of rogue and self-righteous angels have decided they want to kick-start a war between the two worlds. We need to stop them in order to protect our alliance, but also so we can save Earth from getting caught in the middle of it." She relayed to the team, letting her hand drop and the hologram fade.

Zachary tried to step forward, trying to open his mouth to speak against the glares Penn kept sending him, but the redhead immediately ordered the team to get going. His shoulders hunched forward and his eyebrows knit tightly in a wrinkled mess on his forehead.

Nobody seemed to be talking to Zachary, excluding him from the group like children would to each other from a game. They walked on, trying to find where they were supposed to work, Penn making sure to keep his pace quickly so Sashi and Boone would keep up with him and ahead of the other boy.

Boone did tire eventually, falling behind enough that he could try and strike up a conversation with Zachary. They talked quietly and un-noticed at first. They could've talked for hours if Boone didn't let out a slightly-too-loud laugh.

"Who are you talking to, _Boone_?" Penn spat the wiseman's name, earning a flinch from the anti-hero. The question was completely rhetorical, as he'd decided to completely ignore the presence of the taller brunette. "Come on. Stop falling behind, we have a mission to do." He urged Boone to step further and walk faster with a wave of his hand. Before trotting to catch up Boone mouthed an apology, earning a snap from the leader when the wiseman didn't respond right away.

"Do we even know where we're going!?" Sashi eventually blurted out through their silent and tense walking.

"We just need to find somewhere that looks like angels might go!" Penn spat back, sparking an argument between the two.

"That's enough!" Boone burst, physically pushing the two apart to stop the argument. "This is ridiculous! We have no idea where we're going, and we're all too stressed out to focus! I don't care what you say," he pointed to Penn. "I'm going to ask Zachary!" With heavy stomps Boone walked away and turned back, opening his mouth to speak- only to find their fourth member was gone.

Penn muttered under his breath. "It's his fault I can't focus, he shouldn't of come." He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. Sashi gasped at over-hearing him, sending him a scowl.

"Can we just forget about this whole incident! The guy probably went home to cry and pack up because of you!" Boone snapped at Penn. "Weren't you super scared of him leaving this morning?"

Penn did open his mouth to fight back, but he opted to instead frown and turn around. Not saying a word and continuing with his walking. Sashi rolled her eyes. Patting Boone on the back when he came to stand next to her to watch the hero stomp away in the midst of his tantrum.

This was definitely the most uncomfortable mission the team had ever done. Smaller and larger demons watched as the team trudged on in silence. None daring to bother them as the tension could be felt from miles away.

* * *

"Ah! Perfect! The team is in shambles, just as you said~" Rippen chimed to view the smaller male. The two of them seemed to clash quite a bit.

Rippen was dressed all in white with a halo hovering above his head, large feathery wings sprouted out from behind his back. Defintely a strange look for a villain to have. Zachary was the exact opposite.

The villain stepped away from his perch where he'd been viewing the team through a looking glass, magnifying the view that he could see through the clouds.

"It appears that one little _oopsie_ can go a long way." He laughed darkly, placing a hand on Zachary's shoulder. The touch didn't bring any pain like Rippen touching his shoulder usually did. It was gentle, Zachary swatted it away. Almost as he would a fly: seeing the appendage as nothing but a bother.

"Just remember. Don't hurt them, and I'll make sure you win." Zachary sighed, not meeting the eye contact.

"No need to worry. As long as I have you embracing the ' _anti_ ' part of your title, the three rugrats will all come out of this without a single scratch on their gross little heads." He smirked. "Now then, where is Larry? I ordered him to bring the shields forever ago." The angel hissed, looking around for his tiny, stubby-winged minion.

"He probably got lost. He's really not the brightest, I have no clue why he'd be hired in the first place..." Zachary commented as he leaned over the cloud's edge to look down on his team mates as they bickered.

"That's exactly what I thought!" Rippen chimed. "You know, I can really feel a connection between us. I always knew we had something from back with the dinosaurs." He took a position standing next to Zachary, once again planting a hand on the boy's shoulder. This time it wasn't as gentle- his grip was much tighter. It didn't hurt the boy, but it felt weird. The touch was _possessive._ Rippen holding the boy as a belonging of his own. A sense behind the possesssiveness seemed to almost resemble a father holding his son. Zachary didn't wave the hand away, his skin almost crawled where the villain touched him. But he didn't wish it away.

"I don't want to wait for Larry..." He muttered, raising a hand slowly, pointing a finger out. Rippen watched as a pink light formed on the finger tip. Zachary traced a swirl in the air, creating a circle out of the glowing pink lines which expanded and sealed together. They suddenly hardened into a pink shield that the boy hooked to his arm, drawing a line over his wrist to hook the weapon to himself. Rippen grinned at the magic trick, holding out his own arm for Zachary to create another shield.

"Can you do weapons?"

"I can try..." Zachary couldn't quite fight off a smirk, knowing fully well that he could create wonderful weaponry.

* * *

"Yep! We're lost! Admit it!" Boone poked a finger into Penn's chest.

"We aren't lost! We're looking!" Penn fought back, slapping Boone's finger away.

"Guys! Can we _please_ stop this. I want to get this mission over and done with, but we can't do that until we just... agree to disagree!" Sashi attempted to make peace between the trio, her anger wasn't exactly calming. But, Penn and Boone both reluctantly agreed. Everyone pouting before they marched on in silence.

* * *

With string pulled back, a heavy breath release, they let go. Sending their attack soaring- a glowing pink arrow cutting through the air and into the ground.

* * *

Penn jumped back when the arrow stuck right next to his ankle, he stumbled, caught by Boone who kept him steady.

"Rippen!" Sashi hissed, baring her claws. The villain laughed and flew down gracefully with his beautiful wings.

"I see you three appear to be having a bit of a dispute." He tried to put a hand on Penn's shoulder, only to have it slapped away by the scowling redhead. "Well," he started. "I have to thank-you three. If it weren't for you piss-poor behavior I wouldn't have a massive advantage." He laughed again, turning and looking up.

There was a low floating cloud, instead of white and fluffy, it looked grey and ominous. On top of it the team could see a glowing pink bow and arrow, the weapon created out of magic. Weilding it was their one-and-only _ex-_ anti-hero.

"Zachary!?" Penn exclaimed in disbelief. "Wh-... what are you doing!?" He spat furiously.

The brunette didn't answer, he simply opened his hands and the weapon disappeared. Wordlessly, he stepped off the edge of the cloud, landing steadily on the ground.

"He informed me you three didn't want him, so I figured I'd make a happy home for him." Once Zachary was close enough Rippen wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder. He ruffled his hair a bit before continuing. "Now then, if you don't mind me, I have an Infinity Stone to steal." The villain laughed, spreading his wings and taking flight.

"In... Infinity Stone?" Penn repeated. "What the heck is an Infinity Stone?!"

"That doesn't matter. Just know us having it is what's gonna trigger this disaster." Zachary explained, turning around with his wings out. He sighed, then took off to follow Rippen.

* * *

Larry sat on top of the clouds with his arms full of weaponry and shields.

"Rippen? Hello?" He called out for his boss. Getting no reply.

He sat down with a pout, having been left behind because of the anti-hero again.

* * *

Penn tried to yell for Rippen to stand down, demanding he drop the stone. The angel simply laughed.

"Your efforts are valiant, but useless!" He spat, tucking the crystal into a pouch for safe keeping.

"I've got the stone, and there's nothing you can do about it!" He let out another booming laugh. Sashi tried to run forward to jump at the man, stopped when a shield took out her ankles- knocking her off balance and to the ground. She hissed in pain and held her ankles, stinging from the strike.

The shield rounded the area before flying back to be caught neatly by the owner- Zachary.

"Good boy, distract them!" Rippen took flight.

Boone tried to jump onto Zachary's back, only to have the boy create a rod- swiping and colliding with Boone's abdomen and knocking him to the side.

Penn busied himself with chasing Rippen, his feet burned as he kept up a fast pace with the villain- taking every chance and pathway he could to gain more height.

He leapt off a few rocks, hoping his parkour skills were up to par- lucky that his feet didn't give out. He sent himself flying and caught Rippen's legs. The man yelped and protested, trying to kick the boy away so he could resume flight- but alas, both were dragged down to the ground.

Penn had his eyes screwed shut, not noticing Rippen's immediate recovery as he reached into his satchel, feeling around inside- his hand gliding over various magical weapons and the crystal he'd stolen. He grabbed the hilt of a pink knife, bringing it out and lifting it. Penn looked up just in time to see Rippen about to plunge the blade downwards towards Penn's shoulder.

He dropped the blade and screamed out in pain as a pink arrow flew thorugh the air and into his feathery wing.

They both looked up, seeing Zachary glaring towards the scene as his bow and arrow vanished. Rippen hissed at remembering their deal regarding the hero's safety and pushed Penn off before standing up.

He tried to fly, ending up just uselessly flapping with his now damaged wing. Wincing with each movement.

Penn smiled at seeing the anti-hero rushing towards them after pushing Boone off of himself.

"Good to have ya-" Penn tried to greet with open arms, all his previous hatred for the boy melting away for just a moment- that moment being ruined when Zachary ran straight past him. Rippen held out the stone for the boy to take- the brunette took flight towards the heavens to steal the stone. Penn watched helplessly as victory, and his former friend, slipped away through the air.

"What?!" Penn shouted in disbelief.

"We made a deal! I don't hurt you, he works for me!" Rippen laughed at how stupid Penn looked, thinking his friend was coming back.

"Oh! There you guys are!" Larry chimed, looking over the cloud's edge to see the scene. "Here are the shields you asked for!" He called down, dropping the weaponry he held to the ground before.

"Larry n-" Zachary tried to protest, cut off by a shield that landed directly on him and knocked him to the ground.

He met the rocky surface with a grunt, loosing his grip and sending the Infinity Stone rolling across the ground.

Rippen swore, Penn gasped, both ran for the stone. The villain caught it barely a second before.

"Nice try, but victory is still mine!" He shouted. Rippen picked up a fallen javelin while in his sprint, then threw it upwards towards a weakened cliff just above Penn's head. The rod embedded itself and knocked loose vital stones- sending the rocks tumbling to crush the redhead.

"Penn!" Sashi shouted, Boone grabbing her arm and stopping her from running in and being crushed as well.

Zachary tackled Penn out of the way, knocking the wind out of the redhead before the two were sent rolling away from danger. Penn tried to recover, but a strong arm caught him around the chest and under his arms, dragging him the final few feet to coverage from falling and bouncing stones.

Penn looked up, seeing the eternally messy locks of Zachary.

"Let me go! Traitor!" The boy spat, wriggling to free himself, kicking and flailing like a child. Zachary paid no mind to the tantrum, he placed Penn down gently and removed his limb to free the boy. "Get away from me!" Penn gave Zachary a rough push- making the mistake of letting his hand fall anywhere near the boy's face.

Zachary lunged forward and bit him. _Hard_. The human jaw has enough strength to bite a finger clean off- Penn was lucky the other boy didn't show a demonstration of this strength. He'd caught the outer edge of the boy's hand in his mouth, leaving several _deep_ puncture wounds with his line of razor sharp teeth. Penn yelped and tried to pull back, his hand held in place by the jaws of the other.

Only when he stopped did Zachary slowly remove his teeth, Penn felt blood and saliva run down his wrist immediately. He met the brunette's eyes- looking _exactly_ like a stray dog. A wolf that had attacked out of defense. Penn shook his head.

"Get away from me!" He threw a light punch, doing nothing more than slapping Zachary with his non-injured hand. The boy didn't react much, letting his body give a little bit.

But he stopped.

Zachary glared.

Zachary growled.

And he threw a punch.

Not a light one, oh no. It was the kind of punch he threw when he _wanted_ to feel bones _break_. His fingers came into clean contact with the boy's cheek, sliding across and making contact with his nose as well.

Penn fell back, gasping. He rolled to his side, his face screaming in pain as it began to swell. When he opened his mouth, a tooth and a steady dribble of blood came out, the blood from his nose joining the puddle and a few drops landing on the redhead's tongue.

He turned back, afraid. He met eye contact with Zachary.

Zachary was furious.

Penn tried to scoot away, only to have a handful of his hair grabbed by the one who he could barely see as human. He didn't look like a human, the rage burning in his eyes screaming that he was a monster, an animal. Even without the demon additions to his body, horns and wings, he looked like the last thing Penn wanted to see. A complete beast.

"Would you shut up!?" Zachary screamed. "You're pathetic! You're going to die and lose just because you're _jealous_!? You're jealous that Phyllis trusts me to not _die_!?" He let go of Penn roughly, giving his head a shove and removing his fingers from the knot of hair. "Yeah. Who cares if I'm a full-time hero! I got there because I worked- because I sacrificed everything!" Zachary turned around, not wanting to show Penn that tears came from his eyes. "I gave up my family to take on that life- I had no choice! It wasn't handed down to me! I got roped into it! You think I _like_ spending every day almost dying?!" He spun, his face red with rage. "You're such a baby, doing child's work! You're letting your jealousy get the best of you! You're not a hero, you're a joke! Now grow up, tank up, and shut up! You'll never get anywhere unless you accept that this was for the better! That Phyllis was doing her best to protect you! She has a big job, and so do I! We make sure the multi-verse stays in order- and we both give up our own time to make sure you stay alive! It's because we care about your sorry ass!" Zachary finished. His breath coming out in heavy patterns of in-and-out. Penn tried to speak up, his whole body shaking and his eyes burning.

Zachary didn't let him speak. He spat on the ground between Penn's feet.

"You watch someone you care about die. Then come and talk to me. You can at least _talk_ to your parents." And then he spread his wings and flew. Away from the fight. Away from Penn's vision. He was gone.

Penn swallowed hard, the lump in his throat nearly suffocating him. Sashi and Boone weren't standing where Penn expected them to me. The two heroes had run after Rippen, Boone took the crystal back and returned it to its perch, Sashi took care of the angel, scaring him away to his own territory.

* * *

Penn didn't say anything when they were sent back to the threatre. He didn't think as he raised his hand to his nose- expecting to feel blood. He ran his tongue over his teeth, expecting to find a gap.

He was completely fine despite the fact he could still feel his cheek burning with pain. His nerves still acting as they were in the previous dimension. Sashi and Boone tried to talk to him about why Zachary was yelling, they'd heard the commotion but didn't understand it. Penn didn't respond, he walked out of the Odyssey without feeling anything, without thinking. The only sensation he could focus on was the weight of his backpack on his back.

The cold air bit at him when he entered the street, the outdoors pouring rain. His hair instantly flattened to his head- dyed dark by the water clinging to his strands.

Rippen and Larry stomped out of Fishstick on a Stick. Larry seemed more upset about not being involved in the mission- Rippen grumbled about losing, even with the extra companion.

He noticed Penn staring.

"What? What do you want?" He spat, holding his jacket above his head to cover himself from the rain.

Penn swallowed, then opened his mouth to speak, holding silence for a few seconds.

"Hm? Your friend?" Rippen guessed, seeing that he was correct when Penn's face fell and he lowered his hand. Rippen smirked. "Well, I don't know where he is, but as long as he's not with you that should make my job easier. Ha!" He laughed before climbing into the driver's seat, leaving to bring himself and Larry home.


	31. Chapter 31: Loneliness Doesn't Fit You

Zachary didn't attend school the next day, and he didn't attend the mission either. Phyllis didn't ask about him- she must've known from viewing their little fight.

He did begin attending school again a few days later- kind of... his presence was only in art class. Rippen would sort of hover above the boy, giving him pleasant critiques and complimenting the boy's work- he was the only one in the class to recieve A's on his work. Rippen had at one point announced he was getting an 'A plus plus!'.

Penn tried to confront the boy in the halls when he saw him- he'd try to speak to him during class or afterwards... but he was always ignored. The closest thing he'd gotten to a response was a grunt and a powerful shove to remove the redhead from his path.

* * *

"Where's your friend?" Uncle Chuck had asked the day Zachary stopped returning to their home. Penn tried to speak, feeling his throat tighten. He knew his voice would betray him.

"H-he's visiting... friends." Penn coughed slightly, hoping they hadn't noticed his voice break. They didn't have a chance to question further before Penn ran up to the attic and into his room. He threw himself onto his bed and clutched the pillow tightly.

The words hurt, and so did the absence. He missed waking up to see the boy beside him on the mattress. Each morning he'd still try to poke him to wake him up. He missed seeing that razor-toothed grin of his- he even missed the random embraces and flirting from the boy.

Penn took three weeks to break out of expecting to see the other boy each morning. He had nearly forgotten all about him. The redhead was still not the same, though. He was drowsier than usual, and while he did sleep longer than when he had the anti-hero around, he didn't sleep _well_. Often times the words that the brunette yelled at him would play through his head. Other times his own fears would attack his subconscious as he slept.

* * *

"What are you doing still here?" Rippen quirked a brow to the child. The man had been late to leave the school- caught up in marking projects and a conversation with Larry. Luckily both the heroes and villains were given the day off from saving worlds.

The rain poured down from the sky, showing no sign of quitting any time soon. The liquid flattened and darkened Zachary's hair- this was probably the only time his locks weren't a mess.

The teenager huffed, not looking up. Rippen sighed quietly, then held his umbrella out further to cover himself and Zachary.

The brunette finally looked up, confused that the rain stopped striking him.

"Shouldn't you be going home?" Rippen questioned once he had the child's attention. Zachary opened his mouth to speak, stopping himself. The villain thought for a moment, realizing that he'd only ever seen the brunette walking home with Penn- whether it be from a mission or any other event he caught them at. "You lived with Zero, didn't you?"

Zachary didn't immediately answer. He seemed to think for a second before sighing.

"Yeah."

Rippen couldn't just leave him here. This kid was likely to become a new minion of his, and he couldn't have his minions starving and freezing to death.

"Come on." He ordered the child. Zachary jumped a bit, looking up in confusion. "Don't just stare at me like that. You can stay with me in my apartment until you find a proper living situation." He didn't wait for an answer, he simply began walking. Zachary did try to protest, but the teacher was already several feet away. He quickly gathered his bags and belongings that he'd started carrying with him at all times, and he ran after Rippen.

"I... I'm gonna get your car wet..." Zachary mumbled when Rippen pushed the door open for him from the inside. The villain rolled his eyes. He didn't really care if the vehicle got soaked from the inside, but he knew the boy would express never-ending concern.

He turned, digging through the back for a towel that he had left in the backseat, laying it down on the seat. Zachary cautiously climbed in, keeping all his limbs tucked in close as to not take up any space.

"Shouldn't we... wait for Larry? Doesn't he usually drive home with you?" The boy inquired when the car started moving.

"Hm? He has some stuff to take care of, I'll be picking him up later tonight." Rippen answered without looking. Zachary spent a few more seconds fidgeting, but he eventually fell silent. Almost seeming like a life-sized doll rather than a person.

* * *

"Now then, don't touch anything. I have some blankets you can use to sleep on the couch." Rippen stated without much emotion. He hung his jacket up after opening the apartment door and stepping in, he discarded his keys into a bowl that was kept by the entrance.

Zachary looked around. It didn't appear to be the fanciest home, it was rather small and cozy. His kitchen looked about average, a few pots and pans in the sink. He had a small dining room- a little table with two chairs.

Zachary looked to the couch he was supposed to be sleeping on, a television sat across from it, and an armchair just to the left of the sofa.

He didn't notice Rippen had disappeared into his bedroom to retrieve spare sheets and whatnot from his closet. The man actually surprised him when he returned and dropped the covers onto the couch.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay here...?" Zachary questioned, feeling like he was burdening the villain.

"If you keep asking I'll change my mind." Rippen fought off a chuckle when he noticed the boy visibly flinch and shut up. "Now then, I didn't prepare anything for dinner for two, so I'd say it'd be best if we go out to eat."

"It's already enough that you're letting me stay here... I can't make you spend money on me!" Zachary protested. "I-I can go out and buy myself dinner, I still have... a bit of money..." He dug through his pocket and pulled out a few coins and some crumpled bills. It was probably only enough for a cheap burger. He re-pocketed the change and reached for the doorknob. "I'll be back la-"

Rippen cut him off by grabbing his shoulder tightly and holding him back.

"I won't be having that." He checked his watch. "Now then, I need to pick up Larry to bring him home. I'll be back in a few minutes and I suggest you at least dry yourself off to appear presentable. I'd rather not look like I'm running a charity for homeless children." The villain pocketed his keys and left, leaving Zachary to think to himself.

The boy hugged himself, feeling nervous about being alone in a new place. He didn't know his boundaries, so he could feel a panic attack bubbling at the thought of touching _anything_. He managed to find his way into the bathroom.

After locking the door he tentatively disrobed, hanging his clothes aftwards.

It took a bit but, he managed to find a hair dryer to use for his hair and clothes, so by the time Rippen returned he was fully dried and warm.


	32. Chapter 32: Punch Your Lights Out

"Today you revisit superhero world." Phyllis announced as the team hopped onto the platform. Penn instantly cheered, flexing and posing- eager to be able to lift a mini-van again.

Their mission: Stopping a robbery. Again. An unnamed thief had broken into the new museum downtown and stolen a super-diamond. The crystal could not only use its power to charge an entire city's electricity, but it could enhance power as well.

As they guarded the musuem, Penn couldn't help but feel like they'd been through something _extremely_ similar to this before. A thief robbing a building, stealing an object meant to power something...

Sashi noticed the boy's attention on the physical world wasn't entirely great.

"You feeling a bit of deja vu too?"

"Uh... yeah. I swear we've been on this exact mission before." Penn huffed.

"Oh! Oh! I know!" Boone waved his hand around like a child begging to be picked by the teachers. "We did a mission like this before we met Zachary. He broke into somewhere and stole an orb."

Penn froze for a second at hearing the boy's name.

"You don't think...?" Sashi started, before she could speak again the building's alarm went off, blaring a loud siren that anyone within a mile of the museum could hear. Penn flew into the museum, looking around rather frantically. He didn't see anyone, but the shouting of Sashi turned his attention back to outside- the thief had somehow had manged to sneak past him.

* * *

Zachary took off racing down the street, clutching strap of the bag on his shoulder, he could feel the weight of the diamond in his bag. He heard Sashi yelling after him but chose to ignore it, he took a leap and landed his feet onto a windowsill.

"Get down here!" Sashi ordered as the boy continued to hop and scale up the building. He ignored the call and kept his gaze locked upwards- not noticing Sashi taking a running start towards him.

She ran and jumped, planting her feet and doing her best to run up the wall. She only made it about five feet before she fell- but she was able to grab Zachary's tail, you wouldn't be able to see it past his mask and goggles, but he flinched and panicked.

With her weight the both of them were torn from the wall. Sashi landed nicely, but Zachary landed on his back on the pavement. He was dazed for only a second, but he recovered just before Sashi could grab him again.

Boone tried to cut off his escape and grab him, but the boy dropped at the last second and slid under the wiseman. He didn't show any sign of pain from the scrapes he'd gotten from the pavement.

He took off, stumbling slightly and nearly falling- but he kept decently steady and continued with speed.

Penn zoomed after him, several feet above the street and buildings. He watched the beige spot ripping through the streets at breakneck speeds.

The redhead looked up for a second, double-taking at the sight of Rippen standing atop one of the buildings- one of the buildings Zachary appeared to be running towards.

Larry knocked on Rippen's armor for a second, then pointed up to the hero who was rushing into the scene quickly. The villain seemed to growl.

"Hurry up, he's spotted us." Rippen triggered a communication device in his suit, his words being transferred through and reaching the anti-hero's ears through another device. Zachary nodded to the words that rang in his ear, quickly stopping then changing direction in a sharp turn.

Penn hung in the air for a second. Should he go after Zachary? Should he go after Rippen? He weighed the options.

Beating Rippen meant their mission couldn't continue on... of course Zachary could swoop in at any second to hook up whatever they were doing.

But stopping Zachary meant ruining any chance of the diamond getting to where it needed to go...

He chose to hunt the brunette.

Sashi noticed him change paths after the anti-hero- she then saw Rippen. The villain picked up a few things before heading on his way- leaping to different rooftops with the help of boosters connected to his suit's boots.

"Boone! Let's get Rippen while he deals with Zac!" She pointed to the villain, both of them taking off after Boone gave a nod.

Zachary noticed he was being followed, so he clutched the bag to his chest. His lungs almost began to burn as he breathed heavily- his mask hindering this ability. He hooked a finger under the fabric and pulled it down, a rush of fresh air flooding his lungs.

He knew he needed to meet Rippen on a rooftop, so he immediately turned and jumped on a building to make his ascent. Penn tried to dive to grab him, missing by an inch as the boy made a quick jump to be above the hero. He tried to grab at Zachary's ankle- only for his hand to be kicked away. The brunette continued to make his path more difficult to follow to avoid Penn catching him. Eventually the hero gave up and hovered away from the building, frustrated and ready to chase Rippen instead.

"Try harder next ti-" Zachary called, tossing his satchel up to the rooftop. He would've climbed up himself if it weren't for Sashi kicking him down.

Penn panicked, watching the boy teeter before falling with a yelp. Sashi picked up the bag.

"Boone! Catch!" She tossed it to the wiseman, who caught it just as Rippen caught up with the heroes.

Rippen began yelling, Sashi yelled back. But Penn didn't really care. He rushed to catch the falling brunette.

He'd been quite a ways away, so he'd barely caught him before he met the ground.

Penn flew back up, cradling the teenager.

Zachary stirred, opening his eyes slowly- obviously dazed and in pain from the strike.

"You okay?" Penn questioned, genuinely worried. Zachary immediately reacted by pushing and struggling to get away.

"Let me go!" He demanded, trying to roll away- only for Penn to grab him and hold him with arms around his waist. The catboy continued to struggle and hiss, giving one final push that sent him out of Penn's grip. The hero lunged forward and caught him by his ankle as the brunette fell.

Penn lifted Zachary so he could look him in the eye with him upside-down. He flipped the boy around and tried to open his mouth to speak- only to hear Boone yelp and Rippen laughed.

"This isn't over." He stated, slinging Zachary over his shoulder and flying off- ignoring the protests and the fists that pounded against his back.

Sashi had grabbed the bag and made a break for it to the museum- Rippen and Larry following close behind.

"Penn! Cover me!" She half demanded, half begged. Penn obliged, still ignoring his temporary prisoner.

"Yo! Rip!" He called for the villain's attention, gaining it while Sashi continued on. There was a bit of an awkward silence when Penn thought of a pun to make, but none came to mind so he simply shouted his attack.

"LASER VISION!" Rippen shielded himself, grumbling angrily when he looked at the damage done to his armor.

"Oh, aren't you clever." Zachary muttered sarcastically. Penn sighed and rolled his eyes at the comment.

The hero let himself fall to the ground, stopping about a foot above the pavement. He pulled Zachary off his shoulder, held the boy out at arm's length. Then dropped him.

Zachary yelped when he met the cement, wincing and rubbing his his sore bottom.

"Stay." Penn pointed a finger and ordered, flying away from the grumbling teenager.

A few sirens played in the distance as the super-police rolled to the scene to make any necessary arrests. Zachary rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers- the boy disappearing in a cloud of pink smoke before any cops could try to catch him.

There wasn't much to do besides help Sashi return the diamond so the whole team could regroup to stop Rippen and turn him in. Boone had already covered the defense part of it- so Penn took to mocking the villain. Trying to lead him over the edge of the building so he'd break his suit upon impact with the pavement.

Rippen focused on swatting away Penn like a bug, not paying attention to where he stepped, so Penn was able to topple him off the rooftop.

As planned, Sashi returned the diamond, and Rippen was rendered powerless for the cops to take him away.


	33. Chapter 33: Seasonal Depression

Christmas was drawing near and Penn felt even more bitter than he did about it last year. Not only were his parents still gone- but he was missing one of his closest companions.

After Zachary had returned to work- with the villains of course- he felt himself missing him more and more everyday. He would've continued to feel glum about it if not for a buzzing from his hip. He forced himself to sit up. Quickly adjusting his hair and trying to seem as chipper as possible.

"Merry christmas!" His parents both chimed. Penn smiled and bid them a happy holiday as well- watching his mother kick the snot out of a giant-bat-monster. Brock chased it down and mounted it, only for the beast to scream and take flight as the man beat his fists into its head.

Vonnie hummed, looking Penn over. The boy shifted slightly under her gaze.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" She sat on a nearby rock, looking at her son with concern.

"O-oh... it's... it's nothing." Penn rubbed at the back of his neck and waved the problem off. "I just miss you guys a lot..." He smiled weakly.

The bat crashed into the ground and Brock rolled off, hopping up and recovering.

"And we miss you." He tried to join Vonnie- only to be lifted away with a shout when the creature recovered. It took him in its claws and took flight. Vonnie watched as her husband struggled with the monster before turning back.

"Stop it, I can tell it's something else." Vonnie crossed her arms. Her eyes seemed to wander Penn's room for a moment. "Didn't you say you had a friend staying with you?" She remembered how often Penn talked about the boy. Penn immediately flinched. "Do you think I could finally meet him?"

"Well... about that..." He looked around- avoiding his mothers gaze. "He's shy! Camera shy- and horrible social anxiety." Penn said, all of it being true, but not the reason why she couldn't meet the boy.

"What's the real reason?" Vonnie sighed and crossed her arms, not impressed with her son lying. "Did something happen between you two? A fight?"

Penn sighed. "I'm not lying about him being shy! B-but... I ... guess you could say we're having a fight..."

"Don't worry, kiddo." His father came back into view, his clothes torn up and fresh scratches littering his cheeks and arms. "Every friendship has a few disputes, I'm sure you two will make-up eventually." He took a seat next to Vonnie and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm... not too sure about that..." Penn muttered. "But... thanks for the advice." He offered another weak smile.

"Don't say that. Even your father and I have arguments, but we always talk it out, and we still love each other as much as ever." She placed her hand over Brock's, the two of them smiled and looked to each other with love in their eyes. Penn took the signal and blocked his eyes for a moment as his parents kissed.

"The point is..." Brock spoke, signalling for Penn it was safe to look again. "if you'd just sit and talk with your friend, I'm sure you could sort out some problems and learn to love each other again."

Penn sighed. "I guess you're right..." He knew they were right, and it did bother him a bit to admit it. He needed to talk with the brunette- the only issue being whether or not he'd actually _listen_ to anything he had to say. "Thanks for the advice." He smiled again.

"Merry christmas sweetie, call us tomorrow when you get the chance." His mother bid farewell. The two adults waved as their son hung up after saying goodbye. He sat in a slump for a few minutes, unmoving. Just thinking.

* * *

Ever since the boy moved in with him Rippen was barely ever woken up by Larry- not after a certain incident. Zachary had a panic attack that required care, Rippen having to sit and comfort the boy through his heavy breathing and non-stop terror. The boy ended up falling asleep on top of the villain's covers. Rippen thought about moving him, but didn't want to risk startling him, so he allowed the boy to stay as he slept under the covers himself.

In the morning Larry had tried to knock on the door to wake-up the villain with breakfast-in-bed.

He didn't expect the boy to be in there- and he didn't expect him to be so on edge. Rippen ended up rudely awakened by the sound of Larry shouting in defense as Zachary ran on automatic and attacked the little man.

"Zachary! it's just Larry!" The villain hopped out of bed, his voice made it through the terrified haze that covered Zachary. The boy blinked and gently lowered Larry instantly- uttering never-ending apologies. Larry brushed it off.

As Rippen explained the boy's anxieties to the smaller man he didn't notice Zachary slip out to take a walk to calm down from an anxiety attack he could feel coming on.

Rippen ended up having to go and find him, finding him sitting outside of the Odyssey on the sidewalk.

* * *

"R... Rippen..." The boy's voice was almost unheard as he gently knocked and entered the villain's room. The creaking of the door was what woke him. The man rubbed at his eyes and yawned.

"Yes? What is it, boy?" He stretched and watched as Zachary silently walked over and placed a platter on Rippen's lap.

"I woke up pretty early and made you breakfast- I hope that's alright. I just... wanted to sort of thank-you for helping me out despite the whole ex-hero thing..." He fidgeted with his fingers and refused to make eye-contact. Rippen looked at the plates in front of him- it all looked rather tasty. "There's more cupcakes, if you want them." Zachary spoke after seeing Rippen's face soften. The man looked and noticed a small cupcake on the corner of his platter, the dessert coated in blue icing.

"Well, thank-you very much." He patted Zachary's head, almost like a dog. The boy smiled and made his way out after bidding Rippen a good meal.


	34. Chapter 34: All The Things You Said

"Today you return to Christmas world." Phyllis announced.

"Oh, great. I really did miss being a huge old guy." Penn joked, earning an eyeroll from Sashi.

* * *

The wind bit at them the instant they arrived.

"So, what's the mission? Run away reindeer, rogue elves?" Penn listed a few things that could occur in the chilly world.

"The gingerbread men have regrouped and are stronger than ever, planning to take over christmas. The head gingerbread man plans to take out Santa Claus and takeover to deliver dangerous gifts and traps to all the children all over the world- ruining Christmas." Sashi stated.

Penn gaped for a moment. "When you say... 'takeout' I really hope you mean like chinese takeout." He swallowed nervously, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody was going to pop out to assassinate him.

"I can't believe someone would want to murder Santa Claus..." Boone gasped. "You're so pure, soft, and squishy." To emphasize he poked a hoof into Penn's belly, the hoof sinking in slightly and earning a giggle from Penn. Boone continued to tickle the squishy flesh by poking at it, Penn swatting away after Boone gave a jab to his gut.

"We gotta be serious about this! I _really_ don't want to die!" Penn redirected their attention to their goal.

"We should get inside, then. Maybe the other elves can help us out." Sashi suggested.

She wasn't wrong. They entered the workshop only to have several elves armed with christmas themed weaponry salute them.

"Big Red is in the house." One of them spoke into an earpiece. "Commence ultamite defense plan." Penn and the team watched as the elves moved into action. Each of them marching around, a line of them taking stance in front of the door to block any entrance.

"All entries blocked." A different elf announced into their mic.

"You know, christmas movies really had me thinking elves would be a lot... cuter." Penn admitted as he was led on by three elves, leading to a safe place for the big guy to sit.

"Sir." One of the elves approached Penn after he was sat down in a large throne-esque seat, surrounded by armed elves. "We've secured the perimeter. You have nothing to worry about!" The small homunculus re-assured before marching away.

"This might actually be really easy." Sashi smiled, nodding in approval to the thick defense.

"We can just sit back and relax while these guys do all the work for us!" Boone stretched out his back and tried to curl up on the floor like a dog- only to have a set of reigns thrown onto him and fastened down. He protested and struggled against the elves that tried to pull him away.

"All reindeer are to be brought outside and hooked up to the sleigh! Head honcho's orders!" One of the elves ordered. "We can't risk any deer being compramised!" Boone gave one final tug before giving in, scowling the entire time. Sashi and Boone watched as their friend was pulled away.

"Well, that brings us down to two. But we can still work." Penn leaned back in his seat, feeling concerned for his friend.

"So what should we do until the 'big hour'?" Sashi questioned from her perch on the arm of Penn's seat.

"You will remain in our sights so we can protect you. When the time comes we shall lead you to your sleigh, sir." One of the many elves answered, giving a salute as they spoke. This was going to be a long couple of hours. Penn glanced to the clock, sighing at seeing that midnight was nowhere near. The current time in the dimension reading 9:30 pm.

* * *

"Sir! It's time to head out!" Penn woke with a start, an elf standing in front of him.

"Wha... head..." He rubbed his eyes groggily. "Wait-" he noticed an absence. "Where's Sashi?"

"The elf that was with you? She took charge of one of the defense teams." The elf pointed, guiding Penn's eyes to a line of elves- pacing back and forth was Sashi, yelling like an army general. "She'll be leading the brigade that will be bringing you to your sleigh, sir." The elf saluted, then began marching away. "Come with me, sir."

Penn struggled to stand, having sunk down in his chair a lot, his belly also weighing him down.

The elves lined his path, all saluting when Penn passed them. He felt a little uncomfortable under their constant stares, but also a bit like a famous celebrity in need of constant defense.

Sashi was at the end of the line.

"We just need to make our way up to the launch pad and victory is ours!" She grinned with pride.

"Not bad, Sash. I might have to hire you to be my full time body guard outside of missions as well." Penn said as Sashi led him outside, three more elves waiting to escort the hero.

Things continued to go smoothly, or they did until the three elves suddenly collapsed halfway up the path. Penn yelped and jumped back when they fell. Sashi immediately tried to request backup, only to pass-out herself. Penn noticed a dart stuck into her shoulder.

"Good day, sir." A shape landed on the path in front of Penn. He jumped back again, this time gasping at the sudden intrusion. "I really do hate for us to be meeting under these circumstances, though." They stood up.

Penn grit his teeth when he saw who had so _nicely_ dropped in to say hello.

Zachary.

The boy didn't have any disguise- the only difference being he'd swapped out his grey jacket for a black one- this one being just as long as the last one. The only difference was it was thicker and had fur lining the hood and sleeves. He also wore a pair of fluffy blue earmuffs.

Penn stumbled back a bit as the boy walked forward.

"Come on, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." The boy put his hands up defensively. "That's the last thing I want to do. I just need to get you out of the way for a bit..."

"That sounds like you want to hurt me!" Penn snapped back, a feeling of bitterness finding it's way to his voice. Zachary only rolled his eyes and continued walking forward.

"Listen, I just need to hold you off while Rippen takes the sleigh. Okay? You aren't going to get hurt." Zachary tried to calm him, acting like he was trying to calm a panicking wild animal.

"How can I trust you?! You turned your back and lied for who-knows how long about doing missions behind our backs!" Penn let his anger flow into his words. Zachary paused for a second, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You should trust me because I meant it when I said I cared about you back on our last mission together! I don't want to hurt you- I'm the reason Rippen hasn't sent someone to kill you yet!" Zachary stated. "I... " He opened his mouth to start again. "Yeah, I don't tell you everything- but I shouldn't have to. Beca-..." He stopped again. "Can we talk about this later? I'd feel a lot more comfortable talking to Penn instead of ol' Saint Nick." Zachary sighed, Penn gave him a skeptical look.

"Fine." The hero sighed.

"Thank-you"

Penn immediately broke into a sprint, trying to push passed the anti-hero. Zachary yelped when the wall of red-and-white suddenly tried to tackle him.

The boy threw concern for his friend out the window, he climbed the form of Santa Claus. Penn tried to push the boy off his back, but Zachary managed to wrap his thighs around Penn's head- holding himself and squeezing.

"Get off!" Penn mumbled- unable to pronounced things correctly due to his cheeks being squished between the other boy's legs. His balance was eventually knocked away, the hero teetering then falling back. Zachary scrambled out before Penn could roll over to right himself.

"I'm... I'm really sorry..." Zachary sighed, then took a swing- knocking the side of Penn's head just as he rolled over.

He fell unconscious with even breaths. Zachary was left only to the sound of his own panting.

"Forgive me..." Was all he said before he broke into a sprint up the mountain's path.

* * *

"Ah. Zachary, how nice of you to join us." Rippen welcomed the boy, waving a gingerbread hand that had been glued back to his previously shattered body with a layer of icing.

"Zachary! What are you doing!?" Boone shouted, a few gingerbread-minions tying him to a post. One of them stopped him from yelling by shoving a stuffed toy into his mouth as a gag. Zachary had to force himself to look away from the reindeer, the guilt threatening to eat at him like a parasite. Without any words he hopped into the sled, taking a seat between Rippen and Larry.

"I can't believe it- we... we're going to win!" Rippen let himself feel excited, cheering a little bit. Larry celebrated along, the only one of the trio staying silent was Zachary. He was thinking, the guilt forcing it's way up no matter how much he forced it down. He thought about how upset Penn seemed-

His self hatred was cut-off by Rippen throwing an arm around his shoulder's pulling him close in a half-hug.

"Uh... congrats! Sir!" Zachary forced himself to smile, his voice unsteady due to Rippen jostling him.

"Sir. It's ten minutes until midnight." One of the smaller cookie-men announced, showing a pocket watch to the villain.

"Perfect!" He cheered, taking hold of the reigns and snapping them, the deer took off, flying neatly off of the launch pad.

Zachary felt something inside of him. Something that he'd mistaken for victory- it was simply the spark that came a second before being zapped back home.

It hurt.

It mingled with his guilt. He screwed his eyes shut, a few tears blurring his vision when he opened them again.

Rippen and Larry rode on, singing christmas songs.

Without thinking Zachary planted his feet and threw his body to the side. Rippen shouted in surprise, releasing the reigns- Zachary grabbed them with one hand before giving Rippen another hard shove- the gingerbread man fell from the sled. Larry tried to shout after the villain- only to be kicked off the other side.

Zachary clenched his teeth and pulled hard on the reigns to turn the deer around.

"Turn around! Come on!" He ordered, unsure if the deer could hear him. His continuous tugging seemed to work though- the animals eventually turned.

The army of ginger-minions all murmured, confused at seeing the sleigh coming back. They noticed their master was gone and moved in to attack the boy driving the sleigh when he landed.

Zachary fought them off easily, breaking them apart with his fists and kicks.

They managed to weigh him down to a crawl by jumping on him- the boy knocked them off with ease and ran to Boone. He plucked the doll out of the deer's mouth.

"What- wh-"

"No questions." Zachary cut off the wiseman's words. He gave a final tug to the knot and undid it, freeing the deer. Boone hopped up and worked into kicking away attacking cookie men.

"Retreat!" They all shouted, making their way out down the path and passing by a woozy Santa Claus.

Sashi and the three elves had recovered from the darts, they immediately took to the sled. They loaded the correct bags while Sashi hooked up Boone to the reigns.

"How did..." Penn tried to ask, cut off when a boy ran into him- not on accident. Zachary embraced the Santa bodied hero, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry!" he sobbed and choked, looking up at Penn like the guilty child he was.

The hero tried to question, unable to find the words.

"Sir! The sled is ready to go, we need to get out of here in the next few minutes or christmas'll be late!" And elf announced as his colleagues and Sashi loaded the bags of toys and gifts into the sleigh.

"We can talk about this later." Penn held Zachary by the shoulders- the boy nodded, choking back a sob and wiping his eyes. He turned as Penn ran by him and jumped into the sleigh.

They left just in time with the anti-hero waving them off, wishing them happy travels.

Then the mission was done. Three heroes, a sobbing teenager, and two broken cookies were zapped back home.


	35. Chapter 35: Sapphire

Penn burst out the doors at the same time the anti-hero did. They stopped and looked at each other, breathless and glassy eyed.

Penn slowly lifted his arms, not in a defensive way, but wanting to hold the other. Zachary's response was immediate, he broke into tears, gasped, and ran forward with enough force to knock Penn out.

The redhead did similar, only able to take two steps before they collided in a tight hug- almost painful... but in a good way. Penn buried his face into the anti-hero's shoulders- happy to feel him again... happy to smell him again. They both fell to their knees.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..." Zachary rambled on, Penn broke him off by laughing.

"Calm down, I know." He leaned back to look at Zachary. Both boys were puffy-eyed and messy-covered in various face-liquids. Zachary was the first to break. He snorted, then full on cackled at how funny Penn looked with his red eyes and wet cheeks- Penn did the same. They calmed down eventually.

Zachary moved his hands from Penn's waist and cupped his cheeks, tilting the boy's head forward so their foreheads could meet. Penn tightened his grip on Zachary's shoulders.

"Are we... interrupting something...?" Boone questioned, him and Sashi walking out onto the emotional scene. Zachary removed his hands and looked down, placing his fists into his lap and looking rather ashamed. Unsure how Boone and Sashi felt about him. Penn kept a hand on Zachary's shoulder and turned around to his friends, a smile still dancing on his lips.

"Ew. Barf." Rippen commented, fake gagging. "I could really do without all the mushy-goo-goo stuff after being betrayed." He sighed. He didn't overly mind loosing the boy, he kind of expected it to happen. But he'd miss the strong addition to the team and occassional pampering from the boy. He'd need to make a reminder to return any and all belongings to the teenager that were at his house.

Zachary couldn't really form words through his feelings, so he instead stuck his tongue out at the villain, earning a laugh from the heroes.

"I take it you're back on our side again." Sashi asked as Penn stood up, she passed him his backpack that he'd left in the theatre in his rush to get outside.

"If... that's okay with you guys..." Zachary stood and tucked his hands into his pockets.

Sashi smiled sweetly. "It's good to have you back. But... I'm not hugging you until you put on clean clothes." She pointed, rather disgusted at the wet-spot on Zachary's shoulder. A mixture of tears, snot and a bit of drool from Penn. The boy gagged before freaking out, taking off whatever clothing had the fluids on it.

"Gross! Gross!" He got caught in his shirt- the trio all laughed at him struggling.

"Oh come on, you've licked me and I didn't panic like that. You big baby." Penn wiped a tear from his eye- happy to have his friend back and everything sorted out. For the most part.


	36. Chapter 36: Kiss Yourself Goodnight

Penn simply sat in his room, playing with his fingers. Him and Zachary agreed to finally sit down and have a serious talk, but the taller boy insisted on showering first. This leaving Penn to his thoughts and to rehearse what he'd say to begin their conversation.

His mind wandered off to its own world, so Penn didn't hear when Zachary re-entered the attic. The brunette wore nothing but a towel around his waist, holding it up with one hand. He noticed Penn not paying attention. Grinning to himself, he quietly walked over and leaned down slightly.

"BOO!" Penn yelped and fell back, Zachary laughing that he'd succeeded in scaring the boy.

"Dude!" He playfully punched Zachary in the shoulder, letting a few laughs slip out as well. It seemed as though their _serious conversation_ had been temporarily thrown out the window.

They settled and tried to start talking again.

"Okay, first things fir-" Penn started, cut off by the sound of his MUHU signalling an incoming call. The redhead groaned, but still happily answered for a chance to speak with his parents.

"Hey! We just wanted to check up with you- Phyllis told us you had a bit of a rough mission..." His mother started- only half paying attention to the image as her husband was fighting against a plant-octopus monster in the background. She shouted a few words of encouragement to him as he gave it a firm punch.

"This your mom? I like her already." Zachary chuckled, admiring the woman's violent threats. Vonnie turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice- now fully registering the image. Her son sitting in his room with a boy about his age- this stranger looking to be naked as the image only showed their torsos and Penn hadn't given Zachary time to change out of his towel and into actual clothing.

"Oh? Am I interrupting something?" She asked, fighting off a mischevious smirk. Brock came into view, forcing the jaws of the monster open. He looked at the screen to see what Vonnie was commenting on, he chuckled, then yelled as he punched out the monster.

"Is this a bad time?" He followed along in Vonnie's humour. "Just remember the talk we had, and be safe. Alright? Make sure to use protection." He took on a fatherly tone.

Penn and Zachary both reacted at the exact same time- faces turning red and looking panicked at each other.

"I'm-" Penn tried to defend.

"Honey, don't worry. We'll love you no matter what gender you're into." His father teased, Zachary buried his face in his hands.

"It's not like that!" Penn argued further, his voice cracking. "He's clothed! W-we weren't doing anything!" Vonnie and Brock both broke into roaring laughter at their son's embarrassment. The woman wiped away a tear and took a few deep breaths to calm herself enough to talk.

"We're just teasing." She let out a few more laughs. "This must be your friend that you've been talking about so much." She turned to Zachary- whose face was still ablaze in crimson. "You know, he talks about you all the time when you're not in the room."

"He makes you sound like some kind of saint." Brock added in.

"Mom. Dad." Penn sighed, feeling his cheeks threatening to light up again- the more he thought about it the more he realized he did tend to gush about his cool, crime fighting, dimension traveling friend. Some of these rants coming off rather 'schoolgirl with a crush'-esque.

"Sorry. We can't help it, embarrassing you is our job." Vonnie defended. "We do it because we love you."

"Ah, yes. Torment. The truest form of love." Zachary gave Penn's back a pat. "You know, I still have bruises and scars from my friends showing affection." He chuckled, looking down at his body and pointing out a rather easy-to-see mark on his stomach. Three scars ran across his skin, lined up with each other like a set of claws. "This is from the time I tried to force-feed an old bagel I found behind the couch to my sidekick." Zachary laughed like he was talking about a fond memory, and not an extremely painful moment.

"Oh? Sidekick?" Vonnie grew intrigued. "So I take it you aren't new to the hero business?"

"Uh. No, ma'am. Been at it for a pretty long time..." He sighed, looking at Penn as he remembered they were supposed to talk through a few issues. Penn noticed the look and remembered as well.

"Uh, sorry to cut this short. But, we had some _stuff_ to talk about. Can I call you guys later?" Penn turned to his parents.

"Talk? Is everything alright?" Vonnie seemed concerned, remembering her son talking about having a rather severe fight with a friend.

"Don't worry about it, sport." Brock commented. "I know, you don't want to talk with your parents because you want to have some alone time with your boyfriend." He teased.

"Dad!" Penn blurted, face lighting up again. "He's not- we're not-" Penn stuttered, Zachary had already gotten over the shock off the accusations. He gazed at Penn and bobbed his eyebrows up and down before making a kissy face and winking- laughing along with the boy's parents. "Goodbye, mom! Goodbye, dad!"

"Goodnight, sweetie." Vonnie lifted her glasses and rubbed at her eyes as her laughter died down.

"Merry christmas, kiddo." Brock added in with a wave. "Listen, we'll try to be home for Christmas next year, okay?"

"Right..." Penn finally calmed down and replied with a sigh. Zachary placed a comforting hand on Penn's shoulder, giving a friendly squeeze as a wordless reminder that he wasn't alone in this.

"MUHU hug." Vonnie opened her arms, Brock following. Penn opened his arms and pretended to hug the screen.

One final wave goodbye, and his parents hung up just before the plant-monster returned.

"So... uh... sorry about that." Penn cleared his throat, blushing slightly.

"Nah, don't worry." Zachary waved it off. "I've been through that a lot with one of my best friends back home. I mean, at first it's a little startling but it just becomes a fun thing to roll with after awhile." He chuckled and playfully punched Penn's shoulder.

"Okay, but... we really need to talk." Penn lowered his voice, sounding serious and losing his usually upbeat tone. "I'm... I'm really sorry about blowing up at you and excluding you like that. You were right, I-I was just jealous. I was jealous that Phyllis chose you over me. I just... always thought _I_ was her number one- and the fact she trusted the new kid more than me kind of set me off..." Penn sighed, starting their conversation.

"Don't worry about it. Plus, I'm in the wrong too. I was a little too salty about the whole situation. I was upset, and I wanted to get back at you- so I risked everything... I risked your whole career, the safety of the multi-verse... and I turned against everything I stand for. Yeah, you did act like a child about this and you let your pride get the best of you..." Penn frowned, feeling like Zachary was making a jab at him rather than apologizing. "I reacted poorly as well. We both just needed to take a few steps back before making the decisions we did. And... I'm sorry for yelling at you... kind of lost it." The brunette rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Oh come on, I deserved that bit. I was being a total jerkwad and needed a good talking to." He smiled weakly. Zachary responded with the curve of his own lips.

"Just understand that... while we are friends. We're teammates. We do have to tell each other a lot, we need to trust each other. But we're allowed to keep secrets from time-to-time." Zachary said

"You're right about that." Penn agreed with a small nod.

"I have a lot of secrets- and it's pretty obvious I won't tell you everything. Not because I want to hurt you and double-cross you, it's because I want to protect you. Dude, I love you a lot. And I have a pretty busy life and past. If I _did_ share everything it'd eventually turn around and bite us both in the butt one way or another." Zachary let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, his shoulders slumped a bit as he felt his stress slowly melt away.

"I'm sorry if I ever pry, okay?" Penn started. "You're right- it's really none of my business. I have a lot of secrets I'd never tell you, so I shouldn't of expected you to share everything while I don't." Penn held his hand out, Zachary took it and shook it. Both of them making a deal that they didn't know the specifics on. But they both knew it involved being honest, and respecting boundaries a bit more.

"I'll go into work tomorrow to see if Phyllis'll re-hire me. And I'll let her know I can't do private missions anymore-"

"No way." Penn cut him off. "You keep doing those missions if you want, don't let me get in the way. It's obvious they were important and had to be done- and it was obvious you were the dude for the job. So keep doing what you're doing."

Zachary smiled. "Thank-you. For everything..."


	37. Chapter 37: Rabbit in the Moon

"Have a nice nap?" Penn chuckled, his voice waking up the sleeping anti-hero.

Zachary yawned and sat up from his spot in Penn's backyard. He'd fallen asleep looking at clouds- a bit of thinking time. With a long stretch, arms above his head, several joints in his back cracked, causing the boy to wince before relaxing.

"Top o' the mornin'." Zachary gave a two fingered salute to the redhead, faking and Irish accent. It wasn't _too_ bad, but if could most defintely use some work. Penn rolled his eyes at the boy's groggy impression.

"Are you coming in? It's almost dinner." Penn turned to leave, stopping at the door for the brunette to catch up.

"Nah. I shouldn't. It's christmas- I really can't intrude on a family thing like that." Zachary sighed as he stood, patting loose blades of grass off his pants.

"Are you kidding me? How could you be intruding if you are family?" Penn walked back over, slinging an arm around Zachary's shoulder. The brunette stifled a laugh- or tried to. He couldn't stop from breaking into a fit of cackles and giggles.

"Dude! That's the cheesiest thing you've ever said! Now I'm gonna say no just because I won't be able to stand being around you for the next twenty minutes while I recover." He wiped a fake tear from his eye, his words broken up by the occassional chortle and snicker. Penn punched him in the shoulder.

"Come on, I'm serious! Aunt Rose and Uncle Chuck set up a place at the table for you and everything." Penn dragged a hand down Zachary's arm, gripping his hand to lead him in. The brunette groaned and threw his head back.

"Do I have to? Can't I just grab a piece of pie and scram- I still get uncomfortable being around your aunt and uncle." He confessed, unsure why he was never able to communicate with adults without feeling weird about it. It was especially bad with the two in question, their energy and volume could drain the introverted brunette in less than a couple of seconds. Penn just rolled his eyes and continued to tug until the boy finally followed. Of course, this didn't happen without plenty of complaining and protesting.

* * *

Dinner actually went great, Zachary didn't say much- simply watching with a look of amusement as the adults tried to indulge in old traditions- their nephew suffering the embarrassing side of the stick. At this point the chinchilla had grown fond of Zachary, so the critter curled up on his lap to nap while the rest of the family continued to be loud.

The second Penn escaped he dragged Zachary away with him, both teenagers escaping to the privacy of the attic.

* * *

"Did you have a good day?" His mother greeted, her face lighting up at seeing her son's face.

"You mean besides dealing with Aunt Rose and Uncle Chuck singing? Yeah. It's been good. Merry Christmas." He smiled sweetly, really wishing he could have his parents with him.

"Merry Christmas." They both replied.

"Whattya say you put Zachary on the line as well?" Brock suggested, he'd spoken with the boy on plenty of occassions in the last few days- starting to see the brunette as another son of his.

"Sure-" Penn tried to reply, suddenly noticing the absence of a certain brunette. "One sec..." He placed his MUHU down, leaving the hologram floating in one place as he skipped to his window.

The words were mumbled, but he could make it out as a conversation between several people. He opened his window slightly to hear things clearer.

"-eah... they're really nice." That must've been Zachary.

"Well, as long as you're having fun. We miss you lots." The next voice he didn't recognize, it was deep. Sounding several years older than the brunette.

Another voice came, this one high-pitched- young and feminine. "You sure you can't just come home for twenty minutes? What are we gonna do on New Years? We all got gifts for you an' shit."

"I'd suggest waiting a day or two after that if you're gonna come home." The older voice interrupted. "She wanted to punch you in the face."

The high-pitched voice took on a defensive tone. "Well if you say it like that it sounds cruel! I wanted you to be the first person of the year that I punched." She stated, acting as if that was any better. Penn assumed Zachary was talking to his old team mates...

Strange team he had.

"Well, I might drop by in a few days just to check up on you guys. But... Penn and the others need me." Zachary stated. "I feel like I still nee-"

"Yeah. Yeah. Fate wants you there longer, blah blah, we got it." The older voice butt in, Penn could actually hear the eye-roll in the statement.

Another voice joined. Another girl- she sounded older and deeper than the other. She sounded extremely unimpressed.

"You're damn right about staying there. I'm getting a signal from there. And I figure sending these fucknuts there would compromise things- so you're staying until it's cleared up." Penn furrowed his brows at hearing this. "It's going to be dangerous, so be on guard at all times. And keep whatever friends you might've made _out_ of it."

"Got it." Zachary agreed.

"Penn? Is everything okay?" Vonnie asked from the other end of the Zero family's call. Her voice carried through the window, Zachary jumped.

"Sounds like you need to go." The deeper male voice stated.

"Uh... yeah. Sorry." Zachary apologized.

"Hey! Hey!" The little girl spoke up. "Merry Christmas, micro-penis!" She shouted, Zachary flinched at the horrible nickname coming through his speakers so loud. Following the shout came another loud call. Penn couldn't pick out any voices, it seemed to be a group of people yelling. At least seven or eight. They all wished the boy a happy holiday.

"Merry Christmas!" Zachary wished back before hanging up and taking a deep breath. Penn quickly dove back into his room to avoid being caught eavesdropping.

"Uh, everything's fine. He was just sitting outside for a little stargazing." Penn sat back down on his bed.

" Yo. 'Sup?" Zachary greeted as he pried the window open and hopped back in. Penn waved him over, the brunette sat down with a quirked brow.

"Hello there!" Vonnie greeted happily.

"Hello, Mrs and Mr. Zero." Zachary greeted with a wave.

"Just wanted to make sure the whole family was here." Brock stated, Zachary shifted uncomfortably slightly, forcing a shy smirk.

"Merry Christmas!" The parents both wished.

Penn wished it back, Zachary joining in about a syllable too late, giving the redhead a weird echo.

"I hope you've had fun being a part of the family." Brock said.

Zachary glanced to Penn for a second, before smiling weakly, but genuinely happy.

"I have. It's been fantastic."

"That's great to hear! Now, you two make sure to call back on New Years. Alright?" Vonnie asked, earning a confirmation from both boys.

The family all said their goodbyes, Zachary waved weakly. Then both sides hung up. Penn tried to stand up to leave, wanting to change into more comfortable clothes, but Zachary caught him and pulled him back.

"Smile!" He hooked an arm around Penn's shoulder and held his phone out at arm's length, the front camera on and ready to shoot.

Penn offered his best smile, throwing an arm around Zachary's waist and throwing up a peace sign.

It was a little weird seeing their smiles together. Penn looked so pure and soft, so human and young. Zachary on the other hand looked to be the opposite. He did have a young face, but it was worn out and tired. The permanent dark circles under his eyes hindered his ability to fully look happy, and the scars that covered his skin made him look rough.

But the picture came out great, and their smiles looked pure and genuine.

Zachary threw a few filters onto it with an app, adding in a few cute stickers. Pink kitties and stars, a rainbow or two. One sticker read 'KAWAII' with a heart next to it. Penn helped add a few of the decorations, laughing at how silly the photo looked by the time they finished.

Zachary poked around the screen for a bit, opening his recent text messages. He was texting the X3RO person again.

He clicked out of the conversation, pressing and opening a group one. The app didn't list all of the people involved in the chat. Simply saying 'GROUP MESSAGE' at the top.

He sent the picture into the chat with a caption reading 'happy holidays!' followed by a few emojis. Zachary tried to put his phone to the side, but it buzzed and caught his attention. It buzzed twice, then a third time as people replied.

The girl named X3RO replied " **haha. gay.** "

Someone labeled as Grace joined in. " **lmao tru** "

The third reply was from somebody named Deuce. " **i can't believe you replaced me** " with a crying face, the sarcasm was obvious in the text. " **it's good you have a happy home there!** "

Penn laughed. "Man, you've got a nice group of friends." This earned a chuckle from the brunette, who stopped when his phone continued to buzz.

The bubble labeled Kutsuu read " **Haha, Good to see you're having a decent time.** " He seemed to be the only one using proper spelling and grammar- the next text seeming to be the exact opposite.

Someone named Fumetsu sent a message reading " **lol pls tell me u guys r kicking ass 2gether** " with a smiley face after it.

Zachary tried to type in a response to the commotion, Penn laughing as he read over his shoulder.

A bubbled labeled Tenshi popped up.

" **Shut the fuck up before I zap the bitch home so you can all piss me off in real life. That way I can kick someone up the arsehole to stop it instead of having to suffer through the constant buzzing.** "

"She seems chipper." Penn laughed watching as Zachary held his thumb to the backspace key to remove his message. Re-typing out a well-thought response.

" **suck my ass tenshi** "

He then locked the device, the screen lighting up less than a second after turning black. New notifications setting off the vibration every few seconds.

Zachary chose to ignore it, dropping his phone to the side and choosing to instead laugh and speak with the redhead. This being the first time he ever ignored his text messages.


	38. Chapter 38: Wildfire

_how long has it been? like.. at least two months, or close to lmao_

 _sorry for such a long break! but, i'll try to come back! slowly... i have like twenty wip chapters and ideas to get down. but i've finally moved to a new laptop, so hopefully tech issues won't stop me anymore! a new laptop also means a machine that actually has spell check and a bit of auto-correct so hopefully "he ran form it" and like problems won't be too much of a common issue... hopefully._

 _with the end of gravity falls and a viewing of deadpool, hopefully i'll have ideas flowing!_

 _aaand sorry for coming back with such a ... dark... chapter. wrote this during a tough time as a bit of a vent- but hey! i'm all about angst and using fictional characters to cope with my problems!_

* * *

 _The room is dark, purely black. There's this never ending sound of static- it starts getting to you. You find yourself pounding a fist against your head every few seconds as the noise leads up to a high-pitched screech._

 _It doesn't really bother you, at this point you learn to accept you're going to have nightmares like this a lot. It's the next part that gets you._

 _You see the face of a woman. A woman who you try to forget. You haven't seen her for years, she's part of the reason why you're in this mess. Most of her features are missing, the parts you managed to block out, but, even with a nearly blank face it's impossible for you to not recognize her._

 _"Why can't you be more like your older sisters?" Your mother asks, her echo carrying a hiss._

 _"They have jobs. They got amazing grades, they graduated, and they're successful. You're 16 and already a failure." Here it goes, the words start to hurt._

 _You try to block them out, but she's in your head. You can feel the static getting to you and making your body feel numb- at this point you're nothing but static. Her words breaking you down to an empty husk to take the insults she throws._

 _"Do something with yourself!"_

 _"Stop being lazy, get a job!"_

 _"Maybe if you stopped laying around you'd be somewhere by now!"_

 _You try time and time again to explain why you can't. She doesn't get it. She thinks everyone has to function perfectly- that everyone is just like the average neurotypical._

 _"I won't excuse mental illness! Suck it up and work!"_

 _This is the line that draws you over the edge. You fall to your knees, you no longer just have your palms to your ears- you're clawing at them._

 _You see featureless faces floating around you. Laughing, theatrical grins that mock you._

 _"Freak!" A new voice joins in._

 _"You're such a spazz!" The voice resembles every single kid who ever tormented you through you school days. The ones that poked at you until you snapped._

 _"Let go of these dreams! Be realistic!"_

 _"Just shut up! Nobody cares about what you have to say!"_

 _"You're so stupid!"_

 _"No wonder all your friends hate you!"_

 _"You're so annoying!"_

 _You continue clawing, the words don't fade and by now you're just drawing your fingernails through liquid and mushed up flesh. You look at your hands, they shake with fear and static. They're red. Bright red._

 _You can still hear them._

 _The static is getting louder._

 _Now you hear dripping. You look down again to see it's a pool of crimson surrounding you._

 _And all at once, everything stops. the silence is deafening. You can feel a painful pressure building in your skull- the ringing threatens to come back, but it never does. You'd welcome it if it meant hearing something instead of the darkness, thick and lonely._

 _There's a loud sound, something between a gun-firing and an explosion, you're warm for only a second. That second seeming painful against the freezing cold and loneliness._

 _Your own voice breaks through, but you don't move your lips. The world remains dark and empty._

 _The voice echoes in your head._

 _"Stop trying."_

 _"Nobody wants you."_

 _"Find something, anything. Don't look both ways before crossing, a car might take you out."_

 _"You're just wasting food whether you eat or not. May as well stop all together- at least that way you might starve to death."_

 _"Just give up."_

 _"Die."_

 _"They'll be better off without you."_

 _By this point you can feel yourself screaming. Your mouth is open but no sound is coming out. You can feel your throat numbing with each second._

 _Then you're shaken awake by warm hands on your shoulders. The way they clutch you is almost painful._

 _"Z...ch... ry...!"_

 _"Za...y!"_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 **"ZACHARY"**

* * *

Zachary woke with a start, he was terrified. He couldn't think or even see straight. His whole body shook and felt cold- he was sweating through his shirt.

Penn tried to calm him, almost unable to hear himself shushing the boy past the heavy, loud, and ragged breaths the brunette was taking.

"Zac. I'm here. I'm here- just calm down." Penn urged the boy, petting Zachary slowly. By this point the brunette looked completely shut down, he was gripping the hand on his shoulder with white knuckles.

Then all at once he seemed to stop. He took one final, gasp of a breath. Before he dissolved to simple, deep, smooth intakes of air.

In.

Then out.

In.

Then out.

He instructed himself once he got a grip on reality, his lungs syncing with his thoughts.

All feeling that he was previously numb to came back like a wave. He could feel Penn's hand rubbing through his hair, he could feel his own hand cramping up.

With a panicked whimper he released Penn's hand- afraid he might've been hurting the boy.

Zachary looked up, barely able to see the panicked face of Penn through the blurry wall of tears that blinded him. The darkness of the room wasn't helping either.

He swallowed hard, forcing the lump in his throat down. Down through his dry esophagus.

"Sh..." Penn hushed him, not letting go of the still shaking brunette.

Zachary gave no words, he simply crawled into Penn's bed like a frightened animal, curling up behind the other male and hiding his face. He clutched Penn's blanket to his face and seemed to be hiding behind it.

The redhead watched, changing to gently patting his side as to comfort him and careful to not tickle him.

Zachary held the blanket close to him, taking a deep sniff. The smell of Penn bringing him back to Earth, a comfort that this was all real. He existed. He wasn't in the nightmare anymore. Most of all: He wasn't alone.

He didn't say anything, falling completely silent. Nothing more than a mass of calming anxiety and shivering limbs.

"Are you alright?" Penn finally broke the silence.

Zachary slowly nodded, blinking at a snail's pace.

"You had a bad dream?"

Zachary repeated his previous confirmation, this time keeping his eyes closed.

"Do... do you want to talk about it?" Penn tried asking.

This wasn't the first time this happened. These dreams only started occurring after the boy left Rippen's side, returning to his home with the heroes. Usually Zachary would say no, not wanting to return to that mental hell.

His breath hitched, but he nodded again. He didn't sit up, but he lowered the blanket to be able to see Penn.

Zachary swallowed again, he could feel he was drooling. "I... it was... my mom..." His words were tiny and almost unheard.

Penn felt like he understood. He thought the boy missed his mother. Penn never learned about Zachary's parents- only knowing they were out of his life. He assumed they'd died.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's watching ov-" Just as Penn started, Zachary locked up and grew wide eyed. Penn panicked for a second changing his approach.

"I-I mean! She... can't hurt you?" He was unsure. But he figured he struck the nail on the head when Zachary began breathing again, his eyes falling half-lidded.

Zachary finally sat up, wiping his face off with his hands so he didn't end up trying to look at Penn while covered in spit and tears. His face was puffy and weak, his eyes seemed more tired than usual.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Penn offered, Zachary simply leaned a bit and let his body fall towards Penn's. He rested his cheek on the redhead's shoulder and whimpered slightly.

"Not really. I mean..." As much as he hated remembering, he couldn't stop from ranting. "I feel bad for it. She... I don't know what it's considered. She tried her best to raise me and we... we had our good moments. It's just... she didn't get it." Zachary sighed. "She always held me up to these impossible standards, she treated my problems and concerns like jokes. I never talked to her about it- I'd just hide when she treated me badly and when I came back she'd act like it never happened." He spoke through clenched teeth on the last sentence, growing irritated as he remembered the woman. "I left such a long time ago, I'd hoped by now I would've forgotten." He let himself fall back, now laying on the bed. "But the scars are deep..." At the mention of scars he looked at his arms. Looking over the permanent lines and marks he had from various injuries. He ran his finger over two that were especially noticeable, on his thumb and creating an X shape.

"Hey." Penn waved a hand in front of Zachary's face before falling back himself, rolling on his side to face the boy. "She's not here anymore, okay? And... it sounds like she was kind of crappy- don't worry about resenting her." Penn tried to reassure. He couldn't really relate- his own mother was pretty fantastic. He wanted to ask more questions, wanting to learn more about the brunette. But he knew the boy didn't want him to pry, and he didn't want any bad memories to resurface. Zachary simply sighed, looking at the blanket below him. He picked at a loose thread.

"I guess you're right... I'm just... feeling guilty for no reason." He rolled on his back. "Thanks." Zachary tried to smile, unable to, his eyes had to do the work in showing how grateful he was. "I mean. She taught me one trick, I've got a pretty good poker face." He tried to force a smile again, coming out as more of grimace. It was true, the reason he'd gotten so good at walking off injuries was because he constantly felt hunted due to his family. Showing weakness meant being open to attacks. It probably wasn't a healthy way to think, but it kept him alive, didn't it?

Penn sat up and turned his body, so when he lay back down his head would meet the pillows.

"Hey." He signaled for the brunettes attention, patting the spot next to him. He didn't want to send the boy to bed after being traumatized by his subconscious, so he decided the next best thing would be to sleep next to him.

Zachary smiled weakly, this time it was genuine. He wiggled until he was laying correctly on the bed. The second Penn lay down he wrapped his limbs around the part-time hero- thankful for the warmth and the presence.


End file.
